Unprecedented
by KaosChild
Summary: Loki tried to take over the world once, and it failed. But what's his play now? Trying to take over the world using their hearts? Tony POV. Open to suggestions for the story, much happier than my other story - Duty vs Desire
1. Chapter 1

I Own Nothing

Enjoy

Unprecedented. That about summed. No, that perfectly described whatever the hell went on. It was the absolute perfect word to describe the situation, nothing more or less to so utterly describe what had happened to such a point. You could use words like abnormal, uncommon, outlandish, or phrases such as 'never seen before', 'unheard of', but nothing could so correctly characterise the occurrence. The action, the display, the discourse, the unfolding of events was completely and utterly unprecedented, and they had a feeling this was only the beginning.

It began on a Thursday, a sweet, lovely Thursday, with sunny skies and beautifully mild temperatures. The Avengers team had been having a day off, doing whatever they wanted, and wasn't that just lovely. Nothing major had happened in the last week, so they had no clean-up to do. Amora, Skurge, and even Doom hadn't done anything more than small city levelling for the past month, even if there was that one time they were almost overcome by a large hoard of doom bots. Almost. And then they hadn't heard anything major from Loki in, well, forever. Literally, since his Chitauri stunt he had yet to use excessive force or cause excessive damage, and while this worried some, they really had no way of figuring out if he was planning anything, or if he was even on Earth. Of course, this peace came to an abrupt stop on this too fine Thursday.

On this day - did I mention it was a particularly fine day? – the team were up in one of the more open floors of the Avengers HQ, sitting around the living room, discussing, well, that's not really important, and it's not like they'd remember later anyway, the point is, they were having a lovely chat and eating food from the open kitchen placed in the room, a little to the right of where they were, facing a lovely view of the city skyline. And so, imagine our surprise at having everyone in the room, and to have yet another person stroll in through the doors. Everyone flicked their eyes over to see whom had entered, and all at once did a double-take, heads whipping around in what was probably the most co-ordinated contraction of whiplash ever known throughout the universe. There, looking for all the world like he was out for a casual stroll, was Loki, God of Mischief. His hands were together in front of him as he slid gracefully into the room – what the hell, graceful? That was not a word Tony would use to describe the super powered trickster. Loki looked up, as if first noticing the others, and his eyes landed on Thor. Loki lifted his arm, and just as Tony began to think shit was going to go down, and why the hell weren't any of them doing anything about it, Loki's hand stopped just above his head, his other arm slightly away from his body as he, sort of, waved? Was that the right term? Waved and, looking Thor dead on, pronounced, with a huge smirk on his face; "What's up Bro?". What. Simply; what?

Thor ran at his brother, and while it may have looked down-right scary to anyone else, hell, it scared himself and Clint as Thor clomped on past their chair, shaking the furniture, Loki stood there and spread his arms slightly out further, eyes locked with Thor's, as if waiting for a hug. Thor's arms themselves spread out and curled around the form. Before smashing into a wall with an armful of air.

A deep laugh was heard from behind them, behind where Thor had originally been standing he noted, and once again they all whipped their heads around, and Tony felt himself wishing he had turned just a tad slower. His poor neck. Loki leant against the wall, hands clasped this time behind his back and had a mirthful smile on his face that, while large, was no-where near as splittingly scary as the taunting smirks he used to throw them when things were about to o horribly wrong for the team. He was wearing what looked to be a variation of his usual armour, minus the helmet. He continued to laugh until it bubbled out of his mouth and his teeth parted to allow a musical laugh to float through the air, his eyes closing and head tilting back. And it wasn't scary really, just nice to hear someone laugh so wholly. Looking back Tony realised this was because Thor was looking oh-so confused, glancing between Loki and where the Loki apparition used to be, hair askew and stumbling due to his collision with the unrelenting surface of the wall, super strong as they were designed to withstand such quarrelling.

"Loki?" Thor asked, and it caused the aforementioned god to continue laughing, even as he opened his eyes to look at his 'brother'. His laughter died down as the shit-eating grin across his face held strong, occasional puffs of laughter spilling out. Tony admitted Thor looked amusing and an almost snort, almost laugh, sounding kind of like a giggled 'pffffffft' flew out or his pursed lips, causing the others to look at him with a poisonous glare. It also caused Loki to look his way, smile slightly faltering as he heard the noise, but upon locking eyes with Tony, his grin returned and his head tipped to the side a little – it was adorable, No. Wait. Tony did not think like that. Maybe, he would acquiesce, he looked endearing. He knew a pretty person when he saw one. And then Loki turned back to Thor, allowed another ripple of laughter to leave his throat and walked out another door, leaving. They looked to each other and stood hastily, not quite believing they weren't dead and sped towards the door. Tony got there first, and he prided himself over it, the fact that he was closest already had nothing to do with it, but he was gone.

They really had no idea what went on, but Tony suspected it wasn't the last of it. He voiced this opinion and they all agreed. But what was his play?

This was the prologue, not a choose your own story like my other, hope you enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

I just didn't wanna do homework anymore, and everything I normally do I've already done, so here comes a super quick update. Enjoy!

Loki, really, had been playing useless pranks on them for about a week now. Placing himself in mirrors and windows to make it look like he was there; even if he wasn't anywhere near, twisting peoples words around, that sort of thing. So when Natasha came out with the next line all Tony could do was sigh and shake his head, really wanting to facepalm; "Why can't we fight something cute and fluffy for once? Why does it always have to be big and evil, and, most of the time, gross. Like those fricken snot guys, yuk."

"Why?" Tony groaned, "Why, whyyyyy would you say that", his tone the epitome of exastepration.

So things really shouldn't have been a surprise when they, currently meeting with Fury in the Penthouse of Stark Tower, started hearing a sort of, squealing? Coming from outside.

The first squeal could easily be mistaken for a child that was playing with friends, but wasn't it weird they could hear the kid all the way up here? Maybe the kid was in one of the nearby skyscrapers. And then they heard more, and getting louder. Louder and louder until it was like the whole of the city was squealing at once. And that is pretty loud, he thought as he crossed his way over to the window while the others sat in their seats.

"Tony, what is it?" Captain America from his chair as Tony looked down.

"Guys, uh, I think we may, may, have a situation.." he replied cautiously

"What do you mean 'situation'" Fury demanded as he stepped towards the window

"I'm not sure, but everyone is screaming," he replied, turning back to the team who were standing and getting ready to fight, "like, _everyone_. All of them, every single person I can see" he continued turning back to look out the window.

"All the people?" Barton asked

"All the people. JARVIS, turn on the news, see if we can get a visual" he commanded the AI. "Of course, Sir" he replied as a screen flickered and showed, well, not much. The camera was on the ground and all that could be seen were generally unfocused images of people screaming.

"Get down there now and control this shit," Fury demanded the team, and they were off. Tony got into his suit as the others made their way down, Thor taking Barton to the ground with him. Banner stayed in the building, they had no idea what was going on, Hulk wouldn't help unless it was really bad.

Tony almost hit a building swerving towards a screaming Pepper on one of the lower floors. Breaking through the window his heart thundered in his chest as he looked towards whatever it could be that was invading his tower. What type of monstrosity would it be this time?

Sue him if he didn't expect Pepper to tell him not to worry and leave, mid-squeal, hunched over the counter-top. And sue him more that he didn't expect the cause of the squealing to be a kitten. A very cute kitten if he had to say so himself. He picked it up and looked it over. From here he could see the street occupants perfectly and saw them all with a kitten. Seriously, this couldn't be real.

"Guys?" he asked tentatively, "What have you got?"

"…Kittens?" came the replying question from Romanoff. He saw her on the street and took Peppers kitty – it could be evil, alright? It had nothing to do with how adorable it was, and he certainly didn't hear Pepper yelling at him to bring it back – meeting with her on the street. They looked at each other befuddles before it clicked.

"Yooooou" Tony accused Natasha, and she looked shocked.

"What do you mean me?"

"You asked for something cute and fluffy to fight, yooooooooou" His voice was low and accusing, much like someone who had found out just who had put peanut butter over their favourite things.

"I was joking!"

"How are we supposed to fight these things! Damn you, you jinxed us! Where the hell did these come from?" And then they were interrupted by a loud squeal from someone rather close, so close that the high pitch had Romanoff covering her ears.

"I LOVE YOU LOKI!"

"WHAT the hell" Tony yelled over the squeal and then let his voice return to normal as it died down, "What the hell do you mean?" he asked the civilian

"Look!" she exclaimed happily, pointing towards the collar. It read; A Lokitty for you, take the deepest care with him, regards, Loki.

"What?" Romanoff cried

"This has to be a joke right? They're gonna turn into murder cats or something right?" He asked turning back to Romanoff

"Aw, jealous are we?" a poisonous voice called from beside, "Stealing Peppers kitty," he cooed lifted the cat out of Tony's hand.

"Loki,-" Tony began before he was cut off

"Don't worry Stark," he smiled happily, holding the kitty up near his face, "I have one for you too, see?" he pointed to the cat wrapped around Tony's legs. Tony bent over to pick it up and by the time he was vertical again Loki was gone. Romanoff also had a kitten in her arms somehow.

There was really nothing they could do; they couldn't take the kittens off of the civilians, they wouldn't allow it, they couldn't kill the cats, no matter how evil they might turn out to be, the only choice they had was to keep them. The only thing they could count as a plus was that only the city of New York seemed to be affected.

Looking at their kittens again around the table they pondered what this would mean for pet food prices etc. Fury did not look happy. His kitten had only one eye. It suited him perfectly, as did the rest of them – Tony's even had a little white circle in the middle of its chest, amongst all the black fur, its own little arc reactor. He hated the fact that he loved the kitten.

"What do you collars say?" Banner asked as he toyed with the green collar on his own 'Lokitty'.

"A Lokitty for you, take the deepest care with him, regards, Loki." Barton muttered as he stared at his kitten. A chorus of 'same' rang out from the room. Tony looked to his collar, toyed with it, fumbled and then continued the mantra, calling out a somewhat postponed 'same'.

Later that night when he was going to sleep he once again looked over the message left on the collar; A Lokitty for you, take the deepest care with him, Love, Loki.

Oh Man, Guys, what are you getting yourselves into?

Tony. Tony. Tony. I saw that there. Liar.

Hope you enjoyed Love to hear your thoughts!

Stay awesome.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, Guys, so the weirdest thing happened yesterday; I was thinking about this story and what could happen next when, and this is the weirdest thing, a plot was hatched. A Plot. A fully functioning plot, and whilst the story was supposed to be humour, and will mostly stay around it, coz Snarky Loki's great, but there's a pretty full on plot I can now delve into. So, be prepared.

So that means the chapters will probs get longer soon.

The new developed plot still follows the humour plot I had before it just gets a bit deeper, but the idea was already there. I wonder if you can see what Loki's plotting

Enjoy

Tony wakes up to find that the city is still whole, and that the cat currently curled against his side is as much the adorable kitten as it was yesterday, having not sprouted deadly fangs or weapons of any sort. He's pleasantly surprised. And as much as he hated it yesterday, he still hates the fact that he loves the cat. He can't possibly accept this gift from the trickster, how could anyone? It was Loki, he was evil. And he certainly couldn't accept one which came with proclamations of love. He hoped Loki was fucking toying with him, he really did.

The following days found Lokittys being spread across the rest of America, and in the following weeks, the rest of the world. He stopped counting off which countries had them when he'd heard about them being deposited in Australia, but, if the map in the control room of Avengers HQ had anything to do with it, he'd wager that the only places without them to be Antarctica and the Arctic Circle. It was impossible really, seeing that _every single person_ had a Lokitty. Scientists had studied their own and found them to be sterile, and they didn't need to eat or perform any of the functions required after eating, so Kitty Litter sales didn't have the sales increase they'd been hoping for. And worse?

The public loved him for it.

The citizens of the world set up little tributes to Loki in shops and parks and don't even get him started on Tumblr, his dashboard was flooded and he swears it was not his own doing. Videos started popping up about Loki, and through this the Avengers could track his whereabouts, but after a few days of Loki being a seemingly model, if not mischievous citizen, and after a few failed attempts of getting somewhere before he disappeared, they stopped tracking him. The internet had been taken over by Loki gifs. And not a large amount, just a few continuously repeated. If he had to watch Loki wave to the viewer with that fricken grin one more time he saw sorely tempted to throw the monitors out the building. As a result, S.H.I.E.L.D. was working overtime to get the images off of the internet, and if he helped a little, well, no one knew and he was a fair sight happier. Loki had successfully put him on edge.

And then Loki was in Avengers HQ. All he could do was ask the Gods why? Then he realised Loki was a God, and realised the answer was; for shits and giggles. Why else does Loki do what he does? As it was, Loki was talking to a very miffed Steve Rogers, and the only way Tony knew was because JARVIS gave him a video link on his HUD as he flew the streets, supposedly guarding the city.

Loki wasn't really looking intimidating at all, he was shorter than Rogers, if only by like a millimetre or something, and only because Rogers was damn tall due to the serum freakishly so. He wondered, as he came to a halt mid-air, why none of the team were helping. Jarvis kindly let him know"Loki has the area in Lockdown, Sir" he spoke

"Well take it off" Tony commanded the AI

"It cannot be done, Sir" he replied, seemingly exasperated if he could sound like that as though he'd tried before

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," snarky tone, he shouldn't have programmed that, "I cannot override his command, Sir. If you wanted that type of leverage you should have considered it at an earlier tima and programmed me accordingly"

"Don't sass me JARVIS"

"Wouldn't dream of it Sir, would you like audio sir?"

"Yeah, connect me through" and he did, he was connected, and he clearly came in mid-conversation coz none of this made much sense.

"…Loki." And that was the end of Captain Rogers' very stern sentence

"You can't possibly see any problem with this arrangement." Loki replied coolly, as if he weren't in enemy territory. And what the hell kind of arrangement?

"Tell me Loki, what's the point?"

"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean by this," he replied with faux innocence

"Do they explode? Do they have poisoned claws? Will they transform into-"

"What?" Loki cut in, sounding derisive, "turn into what? Giant murder cats? What are you talking about?" he almost looked dubious over the Captains worry, as if he truly had no idea why he would think such a thing.

"Don't play stupid with me, you know its something you'd do; create exploding killer cats to harm the public." The look on Loki's face was as close to abject horror as Tony supposed it would ever get.

"But… what about the cats?" Loki asked

"What do you mean, what about the cats? What about the humans you plan to kill with your exploding cats?" and really, where did he get the idea that they exploded from?

"Why would the cats explode?"

"To harm the people"

"… But, if they explode, they die." He said it as if he was talking to an idiot. Exploding cat dead cat.

"And they hurt the people"

"But, the cats-"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE CATS!" Rogers yelled down onto Loki, and he just stood there, effected by it as one would be by a leaf floating past not much. The only thing that changed was that his face became a little more 'wtf did you just say' looking and he was sure it was because of the words and not the tone.

"You don't… care about the cats?" he asked, looking for all the world like he was genuinely shocked, "But I made this one for you look" he said, pointing to the cat on a nearby bench, "I even put a star on his shoulder to match the one on your shield." And his eyes were glistening, and why did it sound like he was surrounded by the guys voice?

"Loki, I don't care-"

"You don't care." his voice was stronger now, as though daring him, "You. Don't. Care?" and how could he sound so condescending with the Captains kitten now firmly in his grasp. "He doesn't care." He said with an air of finality who was he speaking to anyway? Gasps drew Tony from his HUD and he looked to the crowd which had grown below him. And then he looked where the crowd was looking. Damn, that explained why it sounded like he was surrounded. He was. By giant advertising screens which were currently streaming live the conversation from Avengers HQ, with excellent surround sound too no way to mistake a word they said. From here you could see the screen, split in two, one side showing Loki and his smirking eyes they had lost the 'you just smashed my kitten with your fist' look and were replaced with one that clearly read'your turn, work your way out of this'. And by the look of Rogers' face on the opposing screen he knew he had fallen into the trap. Loki turned towards the audience and spoke again"he doesn't care about the cats." Then directing back to Rogers, "what would you have people do slay their kittens in the hopes that it might save the world from being taken over by, what was it, oh, that's right; exploding murder cats."

"I didn't mean-"

"Please, Captain, what's said is said, but I, for one, cannot believe that Captain America, Super-soldier extraordinaire and illustrious leader of the Avengers would not care about the life of, not just one, but _billions_ of kittens across the globe."

"Loki," he warned, "You know I-"

"I do not wish to hear your attempts to reconcile what you have let loose upon this world it is of your own doing and yours alone. I could not apprehend such a travesty," although his eyes and guarded smirk clearly gave away he did, "especially by a member of the so-called 'Earths Mightiest Heroes'. And I'm sure not even your team mates would hold such an opinion, or am I wrong Mr Stark?" And how was it that there was now a clean image of him on the advertising screens when there were clearly no cameras around. "Would you," Loki continued, "Defend your Captain, or the innocent lives of billions of kittens?" The trap was so perfectly set, and yet Tony had no doubt to which answer he would give. He wasn't falling into a pit of doom with Rogers.

Loki was suddenly on a rooftop in front of him, awaiting his answer. "Kittens." He announced with defiance. Because Tony would save his present from the trickster over Rogers' pride any day. Wait what?

"Well then," Loki drawled, "Not a very coherent team are you?" That smirk on his face, Tony wanted to wipe it off, and if he'd learnt anything during his time as a billionaire/playboy/philanthropist it was the many different ways of wiping a smirk off of someone's face. Was he seriously thinking this? Come ooooooon.

"Coherent enough to beat you" he replied instead, and the smile he received relaxed him none. In fact it relaxed him negative. It made him jittery possibly in more ways than one, but he'll think on that later.

"Oh _believe_ me, if I willed it, I would have my way," that inclination of his head really his words take on another meaning. "No matter the subject of mine own desire." Damnit Tony knew the God was playing him.

He must have blinked or something because Loki wasn't there any longer and he was left feeling somewhat uncomfortable and unsure of exactly what the fuck was going on.

The next few days were a PR nightmare, and Rogers actually had to give an official statement on how much he wished well of the kittens. As much bad publicity as the team received, Tony couldn't help but laugh.

Thor approached him on the fourth day after the incident, and man, did Tony have words for him. Mainly what the hell was Loki playing at when he said he could have taken the world; was he trying to instil fear, because his creepy ass smirk could do that just fine, at least, it used to. Now it made other just as frightening thoughts begin to thread through his mind. Damn him.

"My brother was speaking the truth" Thor answered Tony's query, "I am sure if he had truly desired the earth would be fully under his control. You have no idea the power he controls, all you have seen is but a fraction of his potential, although I fear something is holding him back"

"Why, _why_, would you fear that your brother can't take over the globe?"

"Something, I fear, is greatly amiss with my brother, and pain, as I'm sure you know, is of the strongest and most poisonous persuasion." He looked truly worried, "My brother" he continued, "could level this city with one fell strike, I'm certain, and it would not strain him to do so. We should count ourselves lucky he doesn't find himself truly invested in laying this world to ruin."

"Yeah, but I think he's planning something… why else for all the stunts"

"My brother has a burning passion for mischief, and it would do use well to see he is not bored, otherwise, the outcome could become disastrous." Thor looked as if he wasn't really paying attention anymore, and so Tony decided to call it a night.

"As fun as mulling over your brothers plans has been, I think I'll just go- yeah, do that thing I have to- yeah, see you round" not really his most eloquent escape, but Thor didn't seem to notice. Lying down on his bed he could finally get some sleep. That's if these damn thoughts stopped flying around in his skull. And if he pulled his Lokitty closer, well, no one was the wiser.

Okay, so, im thinking, next chapter could be from Loki's point of view. What do you reckon? At some point I wanna give an insight into his mind not too much though, don't wanna give away his plans. Maybe, every now and then I'll do a Loki POV chapter, just so you can keep up to date with all his feels.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed. Leave your thoughts in review or comments or whatever im open to ideas of how Loki can toy with them next, so send them in and I'll try to work them into the story.

Stay awesome!


	4. Chapter 4

And here we go again

~~~~~ REALLY FRICKEN OBVIOUS PAGE BREAK~~~~~

He really must have been crazy – and maybe the god was getting to him, just a little – but that's the only conclusion he could come to as he stood on top of his tower and realised that, yes, he had just called out to Loki. Loki who was not there. For some reason he figured just calling out his name would be fine; he was a god right, gods are supposed to hear prayers. But that was hardly a prayer. More like a large slip of the tongue – a very large slip. At least the god hadn't shown up.

Spoke too soon, turning around he actually ran into the god, that's how close he was standing, and Tony wanted to step backwards, but he was absolutely sure that would place him mid-air.

"WHAT the hell" he screeched as he tried to balance himself on the ledge. Loki just raised one brow.

"Really, Stark, you call me for me and yet wonder about my presence?" he asked seemingly bored

"Well I didn't expect you to come and, wait, what are you wearing?" he questioned. Loki ignored him.

"If you have nothing to say, then I must be going, I have a conference to attend." He said spinning on his heel and walking towards the door. Tony ran after him.

"A conference, what, where you plan all your evil escapades with the other supervillains?" he queried as they stepped into the elevator. Why was Loki taking the elevator? Loki hit the button; they were, apparently, headed for the ground floor. He received a sidelong glance from the god.

"I do not 'confer' with said villains." He spoke, accent curling and slipping off of his tongue. Tony saw said tongue push against his sharp teeth when he pronounced the 'l'. Wait, no he didn't, he most certainly didn't notice that.

"What, too good for them?" he retorted

"Quite."

"What? You can't be serious, your ego's so over inflated that you won't hang out with others of your own kind."

"There are none of my own kind." He all but snapped

"Yeah, well, tell that to the others who have _pretty much_ the same goal of global domination."

"Do not believe you understand any of my motivations. And even if it were so, why would one help another claim a prize they sought out for themselves?"

"I dunno, coz you're the bad guy. It's what bad guys do."

"Well then, I'm sure my actions place me perfectly within your definition."

"Well, they did 'till you started giving out cats." Tony said as the elevator shuttered to a stop, "What the hells with that anyways, why did my collar say 'love Loki'?" he said stepping outside. Unfortunately for him, the end of the sentence was all the people outside heard and they spun around quickly and bombarded him with questions; 'you love Loki?', 'Stark, is this true?', 'Loki, Sir, how do you feel about this revelation?', 'How long have you been in love with your enemy Tony?', and the list went on. The only thing he could hear over the questions was Loki's laugh as he sauntered away.

"Really Stark?" he questioned as the human caught up, "Don't you have business to attend to? Like explaining your newly revealed love for one of the worlds 'supervillains'?" he spat the word with something akin to hate. Tony was filled with respect for Loki carrying out the long-con, but he was stilled pissed. "Seriously Stark, I must go." He added

"Where? If your conference is not with the others, than whose it with?" by now people were talking about a lovers spat, and Loki, damn him, wasn't denying it no matter how hard Tony protested.

"Oh, Tony darling," he said, smirk falling easily onto his face, razor sharp, "It is but a press conference." He finished tapping him lightly on the cheek. As he again wondered off he called over his shoulder and above the noise; "see you later!" before chuckling.

Damn him.

Tony dodged as quickly as he could and made his way back up-stairs, making JARVIS connect the screens to the channel on which Loki would be. Damn it, Damn it, Damn it – what the hell was going on.

Plonking himself on the couch he awaited the segment. And if he was nervous it definitely wasn't because he was waiting to see the god again – it was because he was waiting to see what the god would do, yeah, that was it. It took the longest 5 minutes he'd ever experienced for the interviewer to announce Loki was coming on. And when he did come on it wasn't in a flash of light or smoke, he simply walked out onto the stage – which just so happened to be set up in front of a rather impressively large crowd. He was still wearing the same thing – black skinny jeans, green high converses, plain white top and black leather jacket thrown over the top. He also had what looked like a gold bracelet on, but instead of it inducing any comments about feminism, it looked enough like armour to look cool. Damn that guy. Tony was pretty sure he's run out of damns by the end of the day.

"Loki," the presenter addressed him, "It's wonderful to have you here today."

"Yes, well I hope it remains so," he said charmingly, shifting in his seat, lifting one leg up to rest on the other in a triangle, smile in place. The presenter giggled. Tony hated her.

"How has business been?" she asked off of one of the cue cards after momentarily forgetting what she was supposed to be saying. Loki just took it in stride.

"Well, you know, not much of my life has been left out of the media as of late. People are making such a fuss."

"You've been pretty tame the last couple of weeks, any insight onto that?"

"Ha!" he laughed casually, gripping his ankle and pulling it further onto the leg as it had slipped when he moved, "No, uh, I've always been relatively tame. I like to keep a bit of mystery about and it wouldn't do me well to show my all now would it?" the presenter, though still gushing looked shocked

"You've always been tame? What about the invasion incident – many would think that rather rash." And although she said it disbelievingly, Loki seemed to take no offence

"No, I'd consider that tame enough. If I had really wanted to cause harm I would not have gone about it in such a way. However, that was not my intention, and so the actions that preceded followed my goal." And how did he make talking about world domination seem so ambrosial. The presenter was still flustered. Loki still smiled.

"Well then, any plans for the immediate future?"

"Oh," he considered, again re-adjusting, looking skywards "I wouldn't call them _plans_ per se, but I am preparing." He looked back to the presenter, still smiling and pointed a finger, "lucky too, it keeps me from becoming bored."

"Is this preparation something we should be bracing against?" she looked slightly dubious now, but it was lifted from her face via Loki's answering accent.

"No- by the nines; no- not from me at least. No, I would count yourselves doubly lucky that I'm preparing such as I am." He looked so sincere, how could he pull that off? "No, my preparations do not involve copious amounts of people being injured."

"Well that's nice to know."

His laugh was like a bell, ringing out over the crowd and seemingly sweet; "it is quite isn't it?" his eyes crinkled at the edges from the way he smiled. That did absolutely nothing to Tony's insides, nothing at all, and he would stick by that.

The presenter paused a moment as she was relayed information through a headset device and Loki took the opportunity to look over the crowd and give them a heart melting smile. A few people called out and his eyes snapped towards a few people, giving them nods as a way of recognition. "OH!" the presenter gained every bodies attention with a snap, although Loki looked straight at the camera and winked slyly. That smarmy bastard, Tony knew it was for him. He didn't smile – okay, so, what if he did, no one was here to notice anyway. "Recent news;" she captured Loki's attention by leaning forward. He mimicked the action as if ready to discuss a truly fabulous conversation, "Billionaire Tony Stark has said he loves you?" she asked

"Ah, the profession that has occurred this come morning." He spoke lifting his head in recognition.

"So are you in a relationship?" she quickly rushed in, Loki shook his head and laughed.

"On that count, I'm afraid, your source is inaccurate. The situation this come morning is one of a different matter entirely. It was but a misunderstanding. People hear what they wish, and they only heard but the end of a rather long conversation, in which many things were said. I cannot say definitively what Mr. Stark is feeling, for I have not endeavoured into his mind, as those thoughts are his and his alone; I will, however, confirm that there is absolutely no semblance of a relationship between the two of us mox." Why the hell was Loki ruining this long con, protecting him? Could there be a longer con at play.

"Mox?" she asked

"Don't read too much into it, what I have said is true, I give you my word. And if you must question that, ask my brother – I have never, nor will ever break my word, and I shant allow others to either."

"Well then, here's a question; would you ever consider a relationship with one of the Avengers."

Again, Loki laughed, good naturedly, but it must have been getting on his nerves. It would have gotten on Tony's nerves, of that he was sure. He leaned his face in his palm which rested on the arm rest, smiling daintily, "Of course that would pertain to whom exactly, when exactly and a whole other host of variables which would change the outcome of the situation entirely."

"So you're saying; if an opportunity presented itself you would take it?"

"Of course that depends on the situation. But," he continued before she could again interrupt, "I would, of course, the same rules could be applied between any two individuals. For example; take yourself and this man here in the front most row. If the situation was different, the two of you may have met in entirely different circumstances, and thus an entirely different set of incidents would have taken place which could have, potentially, lead to something more."

"Okay…" she looked slightly put off, even if she was practically fawning over him still, "So your saying-"

"What I'm saying" and he made the interruption seem sweet and welcome, "Is that there is the potential for any two individuals to have a relationship, ergo the notion of a relationship between myself and one of the avengers is a legitimate outcome of multiple series of events." She opened her mouth, but before she could speak again he stated with finality; "It could well happen."

"oh, okay, well. This question comes from a viewer," she continued with a furious blush, "A mister Thomas Drent wishes to know, if you were to have a theme song for your next 'escapade' what it would be?"

His mouth curved into a small grin as he stared off into space contemplating. "of course," he nearly muttered, but didn't because his words flowed off of his tongue to perfectly for that, "it would be something the public would recognise, something familiar…" his grin turned almost vicious, as if it threatened to take over his whole face as he lifted his head, idea firmly placed; "It would be, I think, 'Be Prepared' from the Lion King. It is widely known and amusing to say the least." The presenter giggled, "An obvious choice, I'm sure, but it would be fun." She nodded through a flirtatious smile. Tony really hated her and her blonde hair and blue eyes. He smiled more and seemed to be thinking; "yes, yes definitely – I swear that song will play during my next 'escapade'. Ha! Oh yes, it would be perfect I'm sure." At that point the presenter was again contacted through the headset, and she turned somewhat disappointed eyes on Loki.

"I'm sorry, but that's all the time we have. It was a wonder chatting with you." She said standing, Loki followed and held out his hand, and when she shook it he grasped her had with both of his.

"The pleasure is all mine." And he relinquished a small wave to the crowd and was gone. Poof – no more Loki. The crowds' applause roared.

Tony actively sought out his kitten for the first time that night. He also threw the collar across the room until it skirted into the wall. He fell into a comfortable sleep. He wasn't, however, very pleased with being woken by the avengers wider security alarm. Time to suit up – shits going down.

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Hope you enjoyed, trying to work the plot in. Giz me ideaz for fun and trouble.

Leave your thoughts in a comment/review/whatevar

Stay awesome.


	5. Chapter 5

I sat down and this fell out of my brain…

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Another day, another awakening to the world being destroyed. Lovely.

Tony really couldn't be happier if he tried. Shame the amount of happy he was, was about negative 4000. Somehow, he just didn't appreciate being woken at 9am to go and save the world. Why couldn't it be at a more convenient time, say, after 12? It was right about that time he decided he's stop complaining as he was almost tackled out of the air by one of those yellow blob things.

And really, what the hell were they? They were hulk sized yellow furry things with more teeth than four sharks combined and tiny, beady, black eyes. They had gigantic paws attached to the end of remarkably short limbs and long tails strong enough to dent buildings in a playful swipe. And they stunk – like a giant wet dog. A giant, yellow, round, midget armed, shark toothed dog with the creepiest eyes ever seen. Great.

Not to mention the amount of energy they contained, bounding down the streets happily tearing things apart. Where the fudge did they come from anyway? He opened his repulsors and blasted one back down the street, its carcass bouncing from the force. Blue blood sprayed across the nearby buildings, sticky and binding.

He swooped around the corner to find Captain America in the middle of the street, fighting off three rather small blobs. They really needed to find out what they were called. Coming down to land he noticed Natasha was there too – he hadn't before because she was covered in so much blue blood she blended into the background. Clint came running down the street, abandoning his perch on an overturned car as a yellow beast bowled after him. Hulk came crashing through a building to the right at the same moment Thor landed causing a rather impressive shockwave which, while knocking over the nearer beasts, also attracted the attentions of hundreds of the beast surrounding them – those on the sides of buildings, down side streets, leaping through the air.

Looking around he decided, yep, definitely way too far outnumbered. And those numbers were stalking towards them rather happily. Double great.

They stopped, however, when a bright green and blue light passed overhead and flew into – holy shit what was that?

Making its way over one of the skyscrapers had to be the mother of all these beasts, its form giant in stature compared to the already overly large bodies.

And then they heard a tell-tale laugh and Loki zoomed straight overhead, following the beam of light. Steve let out an almighty bellow of "LOKI! Get Down!" before throwing himself behind debris as a form of protection from the god on what looked to be some kind of air motorbike. Dammit he had swag, and Tony found himself extremely jealous. But then Loki was gone, around the corner, around buildings, wherever, and Tony was off. He ran through the streets, as did the others, fighting through the monsters trying to find Loki and put an end to this attack. That was until he was blindsided by a lumbering beast from the right, sending his left side careening into a building and pinning him there.

He let his discomfort be known as he groaned loudly from the impact, his side and head protesting every jostle caused by the beast's movements. He tried to force his repulsor to aim at the creature, but its paws were heavy on his arms. Looking down he realised they were suspended on the side of the building, no-where even close to the ground. He fired his feet repulsors and found, with heart sinking certainty, that they were broken. Even if he managed to get away from the monster he was dead, he would fall to his demise. Triple great.

Just as he was readying himself for the inevitable, the most unparalleled turn of events occurred; because the universe just like to fuck with him like that.

Suddenly the creature was shredded away from him and smashed into the wall next to his head. It keened in pain as Tony realised he was going to fall out of the sky. But thoughts for later - his eyes were still locked on the creature next to him, which started screeching in pain before its insides began to collapse and with a sickening crunch, so did its bones, pulling inwards much like a crushed can before dropping to the street below. The street where he should be splattered currently. Oh yeah.

He snapped his head up and found himself face-to-face with Loki, whose strong hand was holding him against the wall as he stood in what could only be described as stirrups on the floating motorcycle, his other hand in a constricting motion, eyes locked on the creature as it hit the ground. The god looked at him once he was sure the creature wasn't moving again, giving a small smile. That smile did not help Tony's puttering heart.

"Come to kill me yourself?" He spat out of fear.

"I wouldn't be much of a Prince if I didn't rescue the damsel in distress now would I?" Loki parried, brows lifted and lips curling in an amused smirk.

"Please, don't flatter yourself. What is it? Couldn't stand to have one of your lackeys kill me and decided to finish the job yourself?" To this Loki's face twisted into something confused, before he lifted his head with recognition.

"Ah," he announced, "You believe this to be of my doing." He smirked as if he delighted in the thought, although Tony could see a swirl of perhaps, was that hurt in his eyes?

"Yes. No. Maybe?" he replied, unsure how to proceed without making the trickster offended enough to drop him to the ground.

"No, they are not." He confirmed, "Although my actions would lead you to believe otherwise, I have finished with that specific experiment. Now, come." He motioned to follow

"I don't know if you noticed, but I can't really do much right now, much less follow you." The god rolled his eyes.

"Of course, or I would not be holding you aloft. Now get on."

"Nuh-uh. No way. I am not getting on that."

"I assure you it is safe, now get on."

"No. Nope. Not riding on an unknown device, especially not with _you_. It could crash any minute."

"Stark, I would not travel thus if I was not confident in its design. It is my own creation, and it performs admirably, much better that the motions of your technology. Now get on."

"No way! Bigger no if you made it! It'll probably explode in two-" he tapered off as Loki's eyebrows rose in such a way that they threatened to merge with his hairline whilst also promising pain.

"Get. On. Now." He said eerily calm, and Tony couldn't argue with that, even if he wanted to fall to his death.

"Alright." He said meekly. Loki nodded and used his legs to kick the bike, swinging its back closer to Tony. Loki grabbed his arm and held him mid-air – somehow, I mean, how strong can the guy be to hold him, covered in a titanium alloy suit with ease – as he swung his leg over the bike. He sat down quickly, not trusting himself to balance standing, although Loki seemed to be doing a perfectly fine job of it. He gripped the sides of the machine tightly, no way was he letting go; he didn't want to fall.

He looked forward to see Loki's butt. Of course he did, they guy was still standing. He averted his eyes quickly, cursing the sun for making him so hot (it was the suns fault damnit). He found Loki's eyes and silently pleaded him not to push him off the bike. Loki just raised one delicate brow in return.

"What?" he asked the god.

"Are you going to take that off?" he quickly answered.

"What?"

"Your armour."

"I don't see why."

"Because it is a useless amount of weight that will only slow us down, not to mention the wind resistance it will cause and the pain that will be inflicted as I tears away from your body. And don't get me started on the damage it would do to the bike – I swear if you scratch it, you will have hell to pay." And none of those things sounded particularly nice, so he began finding the clasps and dropping pieces to the ground, using the wall he was still beside as support when he reached for the foot clasps. Loki's body was twisted meaning that he could watch him taking off his armour, so he was extra careful not to let any of the pieces touch the bike, lest they scratch it. It was all fine until he got to the chest plate, which just so happened to be caught and broken. Oh good. It would take him at least an hour to get it off at home with the help of multiple robots, and still even that wasn't a guarantee. This thing was not coming off. He told Loki just as much and the god sighed and rolled his eyes so forcefully he had to turn away.

Loki lifted one of his legs up to rest on the seat, giving him more access to Tony's prone form, but leaving little to balance on and Tony was worried he would fall. Not because he cared, but because he didn't know how to fly this thing. Definitely not because he cared.

Loki's hand found his exposed stomach, having already taken off that piece, the other finding its way to the top of the chest plate and dangerously close to his neck. Then, as if tearing through tissue paper, Loki brought his hand down and lifted the plate from his chest, the hand on his abdomen protecting his stomach from wayward pieces of metal that instead imbedded themselves into Loki's skin. As soon as the piece was free, Loki's arm whipped around him to grab the corresponding piece which dropped from his back before it hit the bike on its fall. It left them in what Tony could only describe as an awkward hug situation before Loki retreated and held up both pieces. He then stood on only one leg, the other dangling precariously in the air in such a manner that made him want to reach out and hold onto the god tight.

With a flick of his wrist the back piece went slicing through the air and cut into the side of a beast chasing Hawkeye over buildings. Loki then looked at his mangled hand and then to the blood on the chest plate. He lifted the hand to Tony and gave him a him a hard look crying 'your fault', before he swung his leg back over the bike and sat down unceremoniously, balancing the remaining armour off to the side before dropping it in such a manner that it hit a beast straight on and sectioned it straight in half. The god nodded to itself in affirmation of a job well done before settling into the seat.

His feet hooked into place, yet he remained seated tall, hands making their way to what he assumed where the handles. The technology fired up as soon as Loki touched it, reminding him of the way his suit reacted to him. The tech Loki's bike used though was far too advanced for the times. Something coiled up from the dash, wrapping around Loki's arm and traversing up to his face. Upon reaching his jaw it seemed to meld with his face, a small almost screen looking thing appearing before one of his eyes, reminding him somewhat of those scouter eye-pieces from dragon ball z, although the corresponding part which acted as an earpiece actually inserted itself in his ear – and didn't that look disgusting. Although when Loki lifted his hand to readjust it, he noticed it was more like an earphone than anything else. Similar screens came into existence in front of the trickster, showing maps and various other things in various other languages which he didn't recognise. And then Loki was slapping at some other cords which he had just noticed were coiling towards him menacingly. "Get back," he ordered them, "He's fine, let him ride." He spoke looking back to him as he followed the movements of the retracting cords. He lifted his eyes to meet the gods. "Actually, hook him in – he looks like he's going to jump off." He stated before turning back and jumping his foot down to start a rather ominous bass which he could only assume meant it was ready to move. Cords snapped around his feet, much like the pieces around Loki's, and he found that they, surprisingly, held him in place. "You better listen to what I tell you." Loki called over his shoulder, and the piece had merged to his face so well that now all he could see was the earpiece poking out of his ear and the screen hovering over his eye – no way to tell they were actually to separate things. "And, as much as the public and reporters may love it, not to mention you; don't get too cuddly." Before he had a chance to ask what he meant the bike took off through the air.

They were moving so fast that that tears tracked down his face, and as Loki looked back past his to scan the surroundings he wanted to cover his face from something like shame, but his hands were gripping the side of the bike deathly tight. He saw Loki speak, but had no idea what was said through the wind rushing through his ears and the sound of the battle around them. He didn't notice anything on him until the slithering reached behind his ear. He tried to slap it off, he didn't want anything from this bike anywhere near him, but Loki reached back and held his hand by his side, effectively halting his movements. He figured he wouldn't move if only so Loki would put both hands back to steering.

The thing curled around his face and tingled as it attempted to meld with the new organism. It was oddly - he was gonna go with pleasant - oddly pleasant, as it wrapped over his brow and a screen flickered down, covering both his eyes in a shield, and the earpiece wedged its way in. He saw that Loki's screen had also taken on a shell-like shield look as the god looked left and then kicked the bike out to the right quickly. The force was enough to jostle him into panic, arms grabbing forward at the gods hips, crushing them in an attempt to still himself. He heard a voice practically dripping in smirk through the earpiece; "I suppose I will let you hold on if you are that desperately in need of comfort. I can't help but wonder how you ever fly about in your won suit with your reactions." It was strikingly clear in his ear, as if the gods mouth was placed right next to it – not a thought for now Tony, he reprimanded himself. The tech must measure vibration frequency and translate it seen as he was pretty sure nothing had slithered into his mouth, and he was sure he would have noticed if something made its way into Loki's – stop it!

"I didn't expect to be flying off of the sides of this thing at breakneck speeds" he countered testily, hands still gripping the gods hips. "P.S. I have no idea what these flashing signs mean." He complained.

"Hardly breakneck" he heard a snicker, "I figured I should go rather slow considering your lack of familiarity with travelling in such a manner, but clearly I over-estimated how well you would adapt to new technology." He smirked as he turned yet another corner. "Translate information into English for rider; Anthony Stark" he acquiesced. Tony was more worried about the monsters that were clearly running at a faster pace than them and were quickly catching up.

"Uh, not that I'm not a fan of witty banter or anything, but could we maybe tone it down until these things are off of our tail."

"Oh, but Tony," the god teased as things flashed and scrolled in front of his eyes –numbers and ratios that he had no idea of the meaning of, "we want them on our tail, where would the fun be without it?" Tony balked at the jovial tone; the god was enjoying this? He supposed it was an adrenaline rush.

The god reared back into Tony's space and he found himself leaning forward, burying his face in Loki's neck as the trickster manoeuvred the bike to bank hard, causing some of the creatures to smash into walls as they couldn't match the movement. A high keen escaped his throat as they narrowly missed the wall. "I know what I'm doing Stark!" The god assured him, "And would you get your face out of my neck! You're distracting me!" Barely avoiding the hand that flailed his way, Tony did as he said – he didn't want the bike to crash. The bike whipped back and forth between the monsters diving at them head on, and he thought they were in the clear until the back of the machine dipped dangerously. Of course they were still on their tale – one of them had swiped the rear and it sent them off course and towards a rather ominous looking sky-scraper if he did say so himself.

He figured now would be the time he died as Loki's voice yelling "Reiða!" in his ear as well as the tech's translation to "Swing up" ran across his vision, the coils around his feet locking them back and forcing him to lean forward somewhat lest his legs break. He heard the distinct crack of concrete as the bike connected with the building, but didn't register any pain. Opening his eyes he found that the wheels which had previously been holding them mid-air were now doing a remarkable job of traversing up the wall. He let out a nervous laugh as Loki's intoxicating voice worked its way through his ears; 'Skjótfœri þróask, binda gripa, fœða stilla vald áæggia sjálfr, setja mannligr Stark vandliga brú. Hold on tight Tony', which then translated roughly to; _Speed increase, tighten restraints, initiate co-ordination control on me, make sure rider Stark is fully connected. Hold on tight Tony_. He had to say he would quite happy to listen to Loki speak his native tongue and have no idea what was being said apart from having the translation making its way along the bottom of his sight. He was brought back to the current situation as more things slivered across his body, locking his knees in specific restraints, but leaving him otherwise free. Loki had things wrapping around up his hands before coiling around his wrists in a sort of bracelet.

Before he could even ask what he was supposed to hold onto Loki had reached back and grabbed one of his wrists, slipping it around to the gods stomach – oh, hold onto him, but why-

The thought was cut off as Loki slid down into a crouch reminiscent of a sports bike racer and Tony was forced to lean over him, his other hand moving to lock in front of Loki's stomach.

He was sorely tempted to bury his face in Loki's back as the speed increase whipped at his skin and the monsters trampling up the building behind them forced tremors to run through the bike. His grip tightened to what he was sure was crushing point, but Loki didn't seem to notice as the front wheel of the bike connected with air and they ran out of skyscraper to run up.

Tony felt more than saw Loki's legs kick down, because the movement forced his knees to bend too – he wasn't sure if it was because of the way Loki's leg had moved or if it was because of the restraints. Either way, the movement sent them into a tumbling backflip towards the ground, where Loki quickly jigged the machine again and they came perpendicular to the ground, 17 stories high in the air. Everything blurred past his vision and he almost had a panic attack when he read their current speed as 194 miles per hour, and increasing. 194 miles! 312 kilometres! He had no other way of measuring speed on hand as he pushed himself as tightly as he could to the body in front of him. Absently he noted he could hear Loki chuckling at the movement, but he truly only recognised it because he could feel the vibrations running through the body beneath him and into his own chest. "Brú yfirmaðr stjórna hitta austrvegr Avengers umrœða efni." _Connect us through to the Avengers communication system. _As much as he wished to deny it, he was going to have dreams about that voice, he knew it. A little signature appeared in the corner of his vision and he knew they were connected. He tried not to be discerned about how easy and simple it had been. After Loki made no noise he decided he would speak.

"Guys-" That's all he got before he was interrupted by Steve Fricken Rogers. That guy was insufferable.

"Tony! Where the Hell are you! We need your help down here!"

"Oh captain, my captain," Loki spoke up, teasing the star-spangled soldier, "He's a bit bust right now."

"Loki!" they heard growls and gasps alike through the com. "Give him back!" Tony felt a little defiant at being treated like an object.

"Oh no, he's not a commodity to simply be passed between people. Anyway, he seems to be enjoying himself," Tony had no idea where that came from, he was practically shaking with fear and pressing into the god to get away from whatever might swipe them out of the sky, "You're quite comfortable aren't you Tony?" he asked sweetly, teasing him for his desperate grasp. Well fuck him, he wasn't moving.

"Yes, yes I am, and I am _not _moving, you freaking lunatic, public, reporters, my shame be damned. I'm not moving!" he grit out as he watched the scenery fly past. A little window opened in his sight and showed him Loki's barely contained smile of amusement. He probably only wasn't smiling to keep bugs out of his mouth or something.

"Well, there you have your answer captain, now I need mine; are you able bodied?" his voice dripped teasingly.

"Yes, I am able bodied." He heard the anxious reply

"And the remainder of your team?"

"All able bodied." Short, curt, trying not to give away any emotion.

"Well then, I suggest you brace yourselves – you too Stark." With that the line cut off, halfway through the beginning of the Captains protests. Tony watched as Loki turned to look at him, giving him a mega-watt grin and a sly wink.

Aw Hell no.

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And it just keeps flowing, but I can't upload a mega mega long chapter, so im stopping it here. Leave comments/reviews/whatever and I'll post the second half as soon as im convinced too. It may only take one wonderfully persuasive person and their words.

P.S. Loki was speaking old norse and sorry if some of it's wrong; we cant all be perfect, well, except for Loki.

Stay tuned and stay awesome.


	6. Chapter 6

And I continued to sit and this continued to flow from my brain thicker than blood and sticky with ideas…

Thanks to HeartsNaruto, Captainpullox, Vsama, Yaraslava Rada and Kotetsu T. Kaburagi who made me upload this today.

~~~~~PREVIOUSLY~~~~~

"Well, there you have your answer captain, now I need mine; are you able bodied?" his voice dripped teasingly.

"Yes, I am able bodied." He heard the anxious reply

"And the remainder of your team?"

"All able bodied." Short, curt, trying not to give away any emotion.

"Well then, I suggest you brace yourselves – you too Stark." With that the line cut off, halfway through the beginning of the Captains protests. Tony watched as Loki turned to look at him, giving him a mega-watt grin and a sly wink.

Aw Hell no.

~~~~~FRICKEN OBVIOUS PAGE BREAK~~~~~

The bike was spun in probably the smoothest j-turn for the amount of space they had and came to a dead halt. Loki remained laying down on his bike, and Tony could see the feral grin that was practically splitting his face in two from his seat behind him. He noted it looked a little forced. He made to unfurl from around the god, but Loki's hand grabbed at his and held them in place. All Tony could focus on was the harsh rasp of his own breath compared to the air that escaped Loki's lips as he psyched himself up. He could focus on the feel of the slight tremble in the fingers that clasped to tightly on his own, the firm heart beat that travelled soundly through the body below him and echoed up into his own. The way Loki's legs pushed into his firmly, seemingly to reassure not only him, but the god himself.

He could see the monsters bounding towards their still form hanging limp in the sky. Loki drew in a large breath, his chest swelling and pushing up into Tony's. He let the air out in a rush of finality as he gave the hand a small squeeze before placing it back on the handle. The piece in his ear rapidly expanded and enveloped his head morphing into a futuristic helmet, and Tony was vaguely aware of his own doing the same. The smile had long left his face.

The god readjusted himself further down into the seat, pulling Tony further down as well. His grip tightened on the handles and his legs tensed. It was with this that he realised the god was concerned, over what he wasn't sure, but it put in him a sense of resolution. This was it; the be all end all. It was with a crushing certainty that he realised what it meant – the god was risking himself for a human; for Tony.

The beasts drew closer and Tony could feel with a resolute confidence the heart rate of the being in front of him increasing. He flexed his muscles, squeezing the slender god in a feeble attempt at resolution. They were surrounded. Loki turned to look at him through the screen of the helmet, and Tony adjusted so he could see the face of the God of Mischief. Loki's mouth was slightly parted as his eyes delved deep into his own. Offering a small grin, something lingering and sweet that did wonders for Tony's pulse, Loki turned back to face the head of the onslaught.

The rhythm below him continued to increase as everything seemed to fall into slow motion – the monsters bounding down the street, those climbing the buildings, leaping through the air. And suddenly it slowed; slowed to a beat so content you would believe the owner was sleeping. Loki's arms slipped forward, his foot angled back, shoulders tensed, and the bike roared to life.

The rapid change in speed was not something he was accustomed to, not even from his own suit, and especially not without anything more than a helmet to protect him. His body tried to meld with the one beneath him and he could feel every muscle contract in that body as the god worked their way out from the hoard of monsters. He felt like a lingering presence on the bike, like something that hindered its movements as he hung on with strained muscles. He gave himself a second to readjust his position as they hit a clearer patch – meaning that fewer than 6 monsters were trying to catch them at once. The result was instantaneous.

He realised why Loki was so confident on the machine now, his new position and more relaxed muscles causing the parts of the bike connected to his skin to bind more. He felt like a part of the machine itself, and, not only that, he felt like he was a part of its every movement, the every command and turn that flowed through the technology. The every command that Loki flowed into it. Thus, he felt connected to Loki.

He wasn't even going to begin trying to express the way that felt.

Only that it wasn't like anything he'd experienced before.

From this new position he realised the most efficient way for him to sit was to have his head buried in the gods back, whilst still allowing him to look below and somewhat behind them.

Even through the helmet he could smell the heady scent of the god beneath him, but he wasn't going to think about that, instead, he would concentrate on the bumbling monstrosities behind them.

They banked hard around a corner and the wheels ran along the wall of a building before sliding back onto the air. Tony recognised that overturned car, it was the same one Hawkeye had been using back before his suit was destroyed. He felt the body beneath him draw in a long breath, and he copied the movement, steeling himself as the bike lifted itself into a backflip, over the tops of the monsters that had been chasing them. Those monsters who were currently having a jolly good time fighting the hoard of avengers they had been lead to.

Hulk pulled them down around him as Natasha and Clint emptied multiple rounds from various weapons into the monstrosities. The Captain pulverised what he could as Thor swung his hammer around in a rather effective destructive motion. He desperately wanted to go down and help them, but two things were stopping him; one – he was on this damn bike, and two – he had no way to fight.

Loki gave him an alarming command of 'shoot them', and Tony found himself retracting one of his arms, his left one, as it was surrounded by coiling strands. The pieces pulled together a stretched, working their way up to his elbow and leaving a decidedly un-hand like contraption on his forearm. He looked at it like the abomination it was before trying to move his hand. He found it was wrapped tightly around something inside the device, and that the pressure underneath his fingers would give. He clenched experimentally and set a shot off into the side of a building. Loki whipped around to face him. "Had enough fun toying yet?" he gave a sound nod, even though he still felt rather shell-shocked, "Alright, now shoot." The god ordered calmly, as if he was trying to get him to do something extremely important instead of running off. He supposed he kind of was.

It took around 25 minutes of uncoordinated fighting from the avengers and Loki to eradicate the most of the creatures. Loki's eyes were still bright as Tony and he flew through the area, alight with concentration. After another loop and deeming the remaining avengers comprehensive enough to fight the remainder, Tony found the bike flying away from the scene.

He wondered where they were going until they swung around over its head. The massive one, right.

The only warning he got before he was left shockingly alone on the bike was Loki's quick; "Do a low loop." After this the god leaped off of the bike, flying through the air towards the massive creature and leaving Tony to flail for the handles as the bike fell towards the ground. He realised moments later he needn't have as the bike righted itself and sent itself hurtling through the beasts legs over and over in what could only be described as; a low loop. Fan-fucking-tastic.

For all of 5 minutes he's lost as of what to do, but is firing at any monsters that come near enough to distress him, and fires the blue-green into the monsters eyes whenever he has a clear shot. He hasn't seen Loki since he left, and he prays to whatever deity that he isn't left on this bike running a low loop for the rest of his life.

As if on cue he sees the god jump through the air in front of him, plummeting to the ground. Tony has no way to control the bike and finds that he is overly concerned about the god falling to his death – near crying. He absently realises that this is because he is emotionally drained. It's one of the first recognitions about his feelings that isn't a lie. It's been a long day.

He still feels like crying when the god somehow manages to land on the bike in front of him, and he lets the coils leave his arm before gripping at the armour plated back in front of him. His hand slips and he observes it with pained realisation that the red substance on his palm is blood. The look Loki gives him is all he needs to know. The god twists and rests a hand on Tony's shoulder, looking him deep in the eyes. He feels certain in that one moment, with their eyes connected, and when Loki tells him to trust him; he knows damn well he will, even if he is scared witless.

The bike is kicked into action and he finds himself smothering himself with the god in front of him, not caring if he's getting his blood all over him. They pull up in front of the creature and it opens its mouth in a giant vortex of sucking air and pulling force. The bike leans into it and they go careening into the belly of the beast – literally.

He knows, somehow, that he's compromised. He couldn't help a toddler walk a step right now, his emotions flying all over the place. He still has enough wits about him to know that he's having a panic attack, what with the way his heart is fluttering unsteadily and the effort it takes to draw in breath. It's not as if he hasn't done this before – he has – only back then he knew what was going to happen, it was his own choice, and he was certain of the outcome. He's put all his trust in the trickster before him, and while he feels that trust is rightly placed at the current moment in time, he can't help stress over the unknown factors that could go wrong; the variables that could warp this plan into failure and result in death.

He's vaguely aware when the darkness around them splits and the light of the sun in the city pierces through the helmet visor. It the same amount of awareness he has when he feels Loki take the bike to ground level, hears him curse in some unknown language, ripping himself away from the controls and kicking the stand of the bike down so it doesn't fall. The same level of comprehension as Loki stands in front of him coaxing the helmet away from his face, and then gripping his jaw as he tosses the remains aside. The same perception as he watches Loki speak to him, but unable to hear, recognising a strong sense of concern in those all too green eyes before him. And the exact same understanding as Loki again curses to himself before looking around as if to see if anyone is watching.

This awareness changes when smooth lips are pressed to his own and a tongue works its way inside his mouth. He feels his heart rate plummet to a steady rhythm, his hands stop shaking like he's in a washing machine, and his senses return to him. The first things he notices are the intoxicating smell surrounding him, the gentle hand on his jaw, another on his shoulder and a beautifully wet feeling against his mouth accompanied by the most delicious taste.

It is then that he is pulled back to the devastated scene of New York, Loki scanning his face for signs of god-knows what.

"What-" he mutters incoherently

"Shush," the god slaps at his arm, "It was only to calm you."

"A bit forward don't you think?" he purred as his mind sluggishly caught up

"It was either that or force myself into your mind. If I hadn't you'd be spasming on the ground in the midst of a cardiac arrest." He assured, "I had to calm you, and the only thing I could do was channel my energy as a balm. For this I needed extended contact. One would think you to be appreciative of a life saved. Again."

"No, not complaining." He affirmed, arms rising in a placating gesture, "Very happy living here." Loki helped him off of the bike, legs shaking with the loss of adrenaline. "S'pose I owed you one anyway, damsels supposed to give her prince a kiss." He muttered as the blood left his head in favour of his leg muscles.

"Yes, well, how about I give you one for free eh?" the god asked, placing his hands all over his body trying to keep the man righted.

"Aw, come on, I wasn't that bad was I?" he asked still a little delirious

"You were rather unresponsive." Came the distracted reply and he checked Tony over for potential harm.

"Well I was compromised." He fought back, "Bet I could do better now." He stumbled forward again and Loki steadied him with a hand on his chest.

"Excuse me?" he said seemingly shocked, but Tony found the situation rather amusing, even as his brain fully caught up.

"Well you weren't bad, I'm sure on more level ground we could do better." The trickster narrowed his eyes out of confusion. They were still connected, if they weren't Tony was sure he'd be on the ground, his legs were about as useful as twine. "Come on, I'll give it another go." He teased. The trickster hummed low in his throat, and smile gracing his features.

"Be that as it may, I'm sure your team mates would not approve." And that was like a bucket of ice cold water over his entire body, scratch that, it was like been thrown into arctic waters. His team, right.

He turned quickly, his head spinning as he saw the other avengers round the corner and run towards them. He reached his arm and looped it over the one currently on his shoulder, trying to ground himself more.

"Let him go Loki." And that was the firm voice of Captain America

"Well I can hardly do that." The god retorted, eyes flicking up and meeting the Captain to sparkle with mirth.

"Let him go or we empty our rounds into you." Rogers threatened

"I do hope you know that won't do a thing." He smirked, raising his brows slightly, inclining his head.

"Let him go."

"Do you wish to see Mr Stark sprawled across the pavement?" he asked, continuing when he received no reply, "No? Well then I cannot see how I could possibly release him in good conscious."

"Your conscious is never good." The captain fired back

"Au contraire, you know so little of my intentions." He chuckled and Tony noted with relief that the gods grip was still firm on his shoulder. He tried to keep his legs under him, and obviously drew attention to himself as Loki looked to him and spoke. "How are your legs?"

"Like spaghetti" he replied through a grunt of exertion. At this the Captain raised his shield and reiterated;

"Loki, let him go now." When Loki continued to look on Stark he pressed further, "Now."

"Fine, fine" Loki spoke as though he was bored, carefully lightening his hold on Tony. Tony gripped the god harder as the tricksters hand snapped away. His legs weren't strong enough and he knew it, finding himself listing dangerously towards Loki before his legs locked in place. Loki's hands were up in a surrendering position. "How are you Anthony?" he asked.

"Peachy." He replied, and Loki chuckled at the tone that suggested he was anything but.

"Tony," the Captain urged testily when Tony remained next to the god, "Let him go and get over here now."

"Sure, yeah, sure thing, just ah, give me a few minutes or, y'know, hours." He replied feeling his legs shake beneath his weight. Suddenly they collapsed below him and he waited for the sickening crunch of his knee caps meeting the asphalt. Instead he felt an arm weave itself around his waist and pull him taught against a strong form.

"LET HIM GO!" he heard shouts all around as he looked up to the face of the god whose arms he was in.

"Now, how about we strike a deal?" said god retorted, "I'll give him to you and he doesn't fall unceremoniously to the floor"

"What's the catch?" the Captain ordered

"No catch, but if you even so much as consider pointing a weapon my way I will drop him no matter what he may land on." He gave a steady look to the Captain to assure him of his intentions.

"Fine, quick now."

"Did you hear that Tony?" the god asked as he adjusted his hold

"I did."

"Good, so if you end up on the ground know that it was not my fault."

"Duly noted, I will blame them completely. Please don't drop me."

"Oh no, a Prince wouldn't drop his damsel" he teased, reminding Tony of his impromptu proposition only minutes before. He felt himself flush, but knew that the others would see as a result of the effort it took him to move.

He dragged his feet under himself as Loki moved them forward. Tony kept his eyes trained on the others even as he did so. As they came another step closer they all adjusted their weapons and Loki came to a dead stop. "Do you want me to drop him or not?" he called forcefully, clearly growing tired of their games. "I have done nothing but positive actions this day; I saved not only your city and your people, but also the man currently in my grasp. You could at least deign me the respect to deposit him in your care safely – I would not have saved him if I wished his demise."

Ever the petulant child, Rogers missed the point and retorted with; "If you didn't call up the monsters there would be no problem." Loki raised his brows in what could only be described as an '_excuse me?'_.

"I assure you, I did not create these monsters – you think I would use such creatures of the basest mentality? No. And even if I had, pray tell, _why_ would I bring about a force only to destroy it?"

"Destroy it? You did nothing!"

"Oh of course, because you were doing such a _marvellous_ job of taking care of this particular predicament." He spoke with a dangerous smile, "I'm sure had I not come the city would be in a far better state than this." Sarcasm as he gestured with his free arm.

"I think it would be more likely for the fight to still be going – and I would be dead." Tony decided his input was needed. "And now, if you don't mind, I'd really like to stop trying to balance on these useless legs, shit they couldn't hold up a feather right now."

Loki gave the avengers a pointed look before he continued forward. They had crossed the most of the distance, small as it were, before Tony realised their game. They would attack him as soon as they got him away from Loki.

Steve reached out to pull Tony away, but he noticed first and pushed himself away from the god. He didn't really care that it sent him slumping towards the ground, not when he could watch the god twirl and dodge Natasha's bullets and catch Clint's arrows before flicking them back to land in the ground at the archer's feet.

"By your leave, Mr Stark." Loki called, giving a curt half bow and swinging his leg over the motorcycle. He then gave a cocky salute as the tech curled its way across his body and into a helmet as the others let loose their rounds, speeding off down the road.

Thor bent down and picked a still mostly-immobile-due-to-exhaustion Tony up, and he heard Natasha mutter about PR hell.

Fucking PR.

~~~~~FORCKEN OBVIOUS PAGE BREAK~~~~~

That's it for now, more coming though…

Leave your thoughts in a comment/review/whatever

Stay tuned and stay awesome.


	7. Chapter 7

Okay mans – I want you guys to enjoy this, but I have to say something

Because of this story I have been labelled as a tumblr obsessed freak who cant grasp the concept of these characters personalities or characteristics. I would like to say; 1 – I don't even have tumblr, and 2 – this fic was meant for the lolz, not to be serious. If you don't like it, then why are you here reading it?

I only did this for people to enjoy.

For those of you who have fave'd/alerted/enjoyed this fic – I love you, and thank you. I hope I can continue to entertain.

Without further ado; enjoy

~~~~~BIG FAT PAGE BREAK~~~~~

Of all the things that could possibly be on the front page of the newspaper it would be the battle they were in a week ago. And of all the pictures it had to be this one. He supposed he's count it as front page news if he wasn't so involved.

That was the day Tony decided the universe really liked to take his life and shake it upside down, and then, just when he was getting used to it being that way, it'd jostle him back.

For the front of this paper held a very, very high quality picture of a not-so-mysterious god on a not-so-unfamiliar bike, with a very familiar genius-playboy-billionaire-philanthropist.

Of course that's what it would be. Of all the images, it would be this one; the one where Tony had his arms tightly woven around the god and with said god gracing a million dollar grin and wink to the photographer.

Woo. And that just so happened to be the day after his so-called 'admission of love', and was there even the slightest hint of hope the journalist would forget that? Nope. None.

And if it wasn't bad enough, any mention of the god would have him remembering the situation they'd been in moments before the rest of the avengers team had caught up. That was far too much remembering. Especially when every single one of the avengers cast and crew had come to dish him out, individually mind you, over the course of the past 72 hours. So here he was, a week and 3 days after the incident, with the three day old paper being thrown in his face, again, by Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner. He wondered why they'd come to chew him out together this time. Which point would they solidify? Do not trust the enemy? Do not help the enemy? Don't get friendly with the enemy? Don't get on unknown transportation devices? Don't get on unknown transportation devices with an enemy? Or maybe his favourite – coming from a very foul mouthed Clint – Are you guys fucking? It had hit a little too close to home and he'd shut the archer up with a venomously snarky response.

As it was the paper had gone flying towards his head, for the umpteenth time, and he'd swatted it away _just_ before it hit him square in the face. The paper flopped uselessly as he tried to juggle it, eyes squinting in case a wayward page decided his pupil was a lovely place to lodge itself.

"What?" he growled as he finally controlled the paper - and by that he means squashing it - into his lap.

"What is that?" Bruce asked nicely, unable to speak rudely seen as the Captain had just launched the paper at his lab mate.

"I think we've been over this…" He sighed, hand coming up to scrub at his eyes. Why did he constantly have to explain the situation, had he not done it enough?

"Tony," Steve said, tone brooking no argument. He was clearly the most upset with the situation, although Tony wasn't sure if it was because it was the enemy or because it was another man – the papers had said a lot of things, and considering his 'admission of love' which the captain had read all about he figured it was probably a safe bet either way. "The machine; Dr Banner was talking about the machine."

"Oh." He exclaimed, not expecting that question, "It's a kind of motorbike I suppose." He replied, trying to avoid the topic longer, fingers running along his lips in what may have looked like contemplation, but was really the feeling of a ghost memory.

"What was it like?" Bruce asked in excitement at the same time Steve ground out "Not good enough Stark." Who'm I answering, he thought dumbly as he watched the two opposing reactions. He decided to answer them both in one.

"How am I supposed to know, it's not as if we sat down and had tea talking about exactly what the hell it was. We hardly had the time between flying, being yelled at by you" he pointed accusingly at Steve, "And saving the city."

"For the last time Tony, Loki did not save the city; he caused that problem and you know it."

"I distinctly remember him saying he would belt out 'Be Prepared' at his next event. I didn't hear it, did you? Come on Steve, he said he didn't do it, weren't you listening? All of his points were valid."

"He-" Steve tried to talk again, but Tony spoke across louder.

"ALL OF THEM." Steve looked like he was about to punch something – hopefully not him.

"Well, how about you write out everything you found out about the bike-thing while you were getting friendly with our friendly-neighbourhood God of Mischief and start figuring out how it works – the tech looked amazing, although I'm sure you were otherwise occupied." Bruce said teasingly as he led a grumbling Steve away from the workshop. Thank god for Bruce Banner, the only guy who'd seen reason and decided to tease him in a less vulgar way than Clint. The small things.

He slapped the paper onto the table beside him as he heard the doors slide shut and the elevator ping, signalling its journey away. Privacy, ah.

"You look flustered Mr Stark." Privacy short lived. He turned to the silky smooth voice, knowing exactly who he would see.

"Nice of you to show. Mind telling the others to lay off?" he asked jokingly

"I hardly thought you would approve of them knowing the nature of our encounter." Loki said smirking, leaning against the far wall, hands in the pockets of his dressed-down armour.

"Well maybe you could just tell them how I wasn't getting friendly with the enemy, and you weren't the cause of the problem."

"I think," he said looking up as if pondering, "That you were, in fact, getting pretty friendly with the 'enemy'." His face was pulled up happily, well, it seemed happier than past expressions he had witnessed.

"You're right," he said, building up his retort, "We were enjoying ourselves too much, weren't focused enough huh?" he asked and the God eyed him without losing the upwards tilt of the mouth – he knew he was being led into something.

"This is coming from you, the one who tried to burrow their way into my back whilst war waged around. This perspective, I believe, is backed by the media." Spoken lazily, like someone at complete ease, a deep rumble. How is that fair? He's in Avengers HQ, enemy territory, feeling calm?

"You were the one who said I was distracting." He shot in return. He heard the god chuckle as he stood and made his way over to the table where he would force his attention back to the construction of his newest model suit.

"Tell me, Stark; is this distracting?" He was frozen to the spot; he hardly dared to take a breath for fear of what reaction it would cause. The god had moved silently, he'd give him props for that, considering the distance and the swiftness in which it had happened. Loki had come up behind him, hands resting on his hips and face pressed near his neck, speaking the words just below his ear. Was that distracting? Yes. Hell yes. It was more distracting than that one time in college when he saw Sarah Black getting changed through their dorm windows after he'd been crushing on her since middle school. To sum up; yes, it was really fucking distracting.

"No." the reply spilled from his mouth. Was that a challenge? It sounded like a challenge to him. He would have taken it as a challenge.

"No?" the god breathed, lips grazing the skin, inflection suggesting he knew just how large a lie it was, "How about this?" he asked trailing his hands to his stomach, slowly, deliberately, causing him to come flush against Tony's back. It was at this point when most rational reactions and thoughts flew out of Tony's head, becoming a mantra of things mostly revolving around; Holy shit, Loki is _touching_ me! And he found it wasn't nearly as disturbing as he wished it was. And Loki was just standing there, pulled against his back and breathing against the column of his neck and yeah, he understood how that could potentially be problematic when trying to fly a magical-bike-thing away from a hoard of murderous creatures.

"O-okay" he stumbled out, pulling at the hands wound around him, trying to get away from the grasp that was making his breath come far too quickly for his liking. "I get your point." He said, head ducking the opposite way from the air on his neck, almost crying out when he found there was no-way for him to move forward, what with the table being right there. Maybe he could duck out sideways, he thought quickly as the arms detached from around his waist. Only that option was stopped short when the gods hands met the desk and Tony found himself effectively pinned and trapped. He let out a small whine he hoped went unheard as he twisted in his make-shift cage, figuring he wouldn't leave his back unprotected to the god. Only now he was in an infinitely more awkward situation, as Loki hadn't moved and leaning back as far as he could still resulted in being nose-to-nose with the trickster.

His heart raced in his chest as he tried to come up with an appropriate response to the situation with no avail. He could barely do more than let air escape his lips and puff over the others face, eyes locking with a shocking intensity he couldn't break. His hands hung between them, he didn't know where to place them. He wanted them to act as a barrier, something that would stop the god, but knew they would try something very different if they actually came into contact with the man. "Okay, Loki, point proven. Might wanna, uh, establish some space or something." He muttered a far sight from eloquent.

"Oh but Tony," The god purred, lips tweaking upwards as he faked a serious exposition, and his voice carried through the air so teasingly. Loki moved forward so that his lips and then cheek rested lightly against his own, mouthing his next words; "You owe me one." He could practically hear the sex dripping off the voice, curling its way around his insides.

"I-I thought you gave me it for free." He trembled out – god damnit where was his suave style when he needed it. It wasn't really a question. Loki hummed and he could feel the movement travel through his entire being.

"I did." He turned his head so that the motions his mouth made traced along the side of his face. "But then I saved you from being riddled with holes by your team mates." Heart galloping in his chest and body on the verge of flipping out he grasped at the opportunity to gain control of the situation.

"As I recall, I was the one who pushed you away." He could feel the smile sliding over the face.

"But I did help to carry the fair maiden across perfidious grounds." Was that a tongue? He swears that was a tongue.

"I maintain that I pushed you away before we were shot." He defied, still trying to scoot away but finding it harder, not because of his entrapment, but because of his waning will.

"Well then, perhaps," the god spoke, drawing back, mouth and nose dragging along his cheek leaving a burning trail behind, stopping when he could see his eyes, "perhaps," he repeated, breath ghosting across his lips, the gods eyes focused on the exact same spot, "I owe you one." He looked up, locking eyes. They were so close and Tony felt he could see into the depths of his soul, see the pain that shouldn't cloud a gods mind. His eyes flitted over Loki's face, waiting for his next move, but apart from the stunning lips adorning the gods own face, he couldn't bring himself to look far from the green pools for long. The gods eyes flicked down and up once again, head moving forward and Tony was sure they were separated by nigh a hairs width now. Somehow, through the swirling of his emotions he saw the question in the gods movements, in the way the air spread wet across his lips, but didn't press closer. He gave his answer without meaning to, head giving a minute nod he wasn't sure would be noticed, so he pushed forward himself, hoping to high heaven he hadn't read this situation wrong; that Loki hadn't just been playing with him and he was going to make a fool out of himself.

He felt the press of lips against his own, cold and firm, before they made way for an open mouth and a tongue leaving an amorous trail along the pressed curve of his mouth, coaxing it open easily. It was soft, not pushing or controlling, yet incredibly hot, making him push forward chasing more as their breath mingled. The tongue worked its way inside his mouth, running smooth lines and leaving pulsing want in their wake. He tried to battle with it, but the silver-tongued god really lived up to his name and forced Tony to comply with his movements.

Tony knew his hands had made contact by the sudden grasping of cloth in his hands as he pushed in harder, mouth opening wider as to allow the ministrations to continue, hands finding their way around the armour, leather and metal on the being in front of him. The table pushing into his back was no longer a problem as Loki stepped forward and he lifted his head to follow the taller's mouth, their bodies becoming more connected.

Again he feels the god smirking, right before he feels the hands that have now left the table tighten their grip on him, one working its way up to his ribs as the other pulls at his hip.

The elevator pinged and he found himself with an armful of nothing, arms waving out as he tried to catch himself after his support had decided to vanish.

He flings the first thing he can get his hands on at the elevator as its doors open, and he sees Clint frantically pressing the buttons as the doors slide closed before they'd even finished opening.

Turns out, as he is informed when he heads up for dinner a great deal later, he'd thrown a screwdriver, and it had hit Clint fair in the arm. He'd had to go to the infirmary and get two stitches, hardly much considering their jobs, but it made him feel better.

It was past 1 in the morning when he decided he'd fall into bed, only to find his kitten staring at him, reminding him. Reminding him. Reminding him. He decided he'd have a shower first.

Tony was snapped out of his reverie the following morning when Thor let out a bellowing roar of "My Brother is toying with us!" at a very grumpy looking Steve. He hadn't realised they were in an argument.

"Your brother pulled those beasts to Earth to cause pain, and it worked! He must be held accountable for his actions!" Steve yelled back

"My brother has done things in his past which I know you do not applaud him for, but his intentions are not harmful in this case! He would not go about it in such a way!"

"Your Brother is a Monster Thor!" yelled the super soldier.

"I would urge you not to speak that way – it is such words that hath caused my brother much pain." He spoke quietly, which was somehow much scarier.

"How about we calm this down, eh?" he asked, stepping away from the bar and walking between the two forces, apparently the only one willing to do so if he was going on the looks the others were giving him. "Thor knows his brother best, so if he says his brother isn't at fault, I say we believe him." Steve lifted his arm and took in a breath to begin ranting again, "And Steve, you can take your opinions elsewhere, your mothering and grumping isn't appreciated here – you need to chill."

To that the star-spangled soldier harrumphed and stomped away.

"Thank you for your words, man of iron," Thor spoke to him softly after the situation had diffused and with it the avengers leaving to their own business, "I understand it must be hard given the situation my brother has placed you in over the past weeks." He looked down sadly.

"No worries, point-break, I trust your judgement on him well enough." He clapped his shoulder, happy the situation had ended as smoothly as it had.

"I wish the others would as well, it would make things a fair sight easier and my brother wouldn't have to continue this charade of his." He sighed.

"Wait, charade? What do you mean?" he took a step back and into Thor's eyesight.

"There are things your people don't understand, and this, I fear, will always chase my brother. But it is no matter – things cannot be changed, although I believe he is working towards it, futile as his attempts may be. Leave it be, this concern shouldn't burden you." As much as he wanted to push, the definitive tone made him drop it.

"Alright, well, I'll see you." He said as he walked away, Thor turning to the window to stare out over the city.

~~~~~BIG FAT PAGE BREAK~~~~~

There we go, a little thing I wrote as I decided I didn't want to study – I am the king (Queen) of procrastination. Now time to go do something distinctly not study oriented.

Hope you liked it.

Leave your thoughts in a comment/review/whatever

Stay tuned and stay awesome.


	8. Chapter 8

Here we go again.

And may I just say a wholehearted thankyou to all of those who are supporting this story through your love and reviews; it means a lot – you have no idea.

I was told that Loki was taller, and I was like, I know, but then I read over the previous chapter and found out that my wording made things come out funny; so for the sake of the story, we'll just pretend that that never happened. Loki will forever be taller than Tony. Point settled.

Lets get on with the story!

~~~~~MWAHAHA PAGEBREAK~~~~~

It was a beautiful summer afternoon, and surely, by now, you must realise the correlation between this beginning and the beginning of the overall story. You would be correct in your observation of the parallels between the two, and so, really it shouldn't be a surprise to you the actions which came to transpire. So really, the avengers should have known as well, because, wherever there was a perfectly lovely day, there was a perfectly tenacious god of mischief to toy with it.

The team had decided to congregate at Tony's penthouse for one reason or another; probably to chew him out over the still continuing news reports on his and Loki's bike ride of which there was an unlimited supply of images taken by 'harmless bystanders' from surrounding buildings.

In reality – of course – it was mostly only Clint doing the teasing, all the others dropping it long ago, albeit reluctantly, and only because they couldn't get any more info out of the billionaire. So, Tony concluded, they were probably here to inform him of some training day, social event, or group bonding activity that was going to happen soon. Why none of them used a phone escaped him. So Tony made his way over to the lounge as the others hovered in the doorway, looking for all the world like a bunch of misfits – which they kind of were. He was about to offer them a seat when a voice pierced the air from around the wall which separated the lounge area from the kitchenette and balcony, smooth and deep and teasingly condescending as it called out; "Honey, I'm home!" He was sure his eyes almost popped out of his head as he recognised the voice. "Music JARVIS." The voice continued, to which the AI responded.

"Of course, sir" putting on Throw Your Hands Up by Qwote, Pitbull, Lucenzo and whoever else was in the song. WHY WAS JARVIS RESPONDING DAMMIT!

Loki strode around the corner like he owned the place, leather coat floating behind him as he took in the forms of the entire Avengers team. He turned his eyes to Tony, his step never faltering as he made his way to the couch, "You didn't tell me we had guests. If I knew I would have kidnapped a nice little girl from France to cook up something nice." He smiled, jumping over the arm of the lounge and falling right next to Tony, looking entirely comfortable, smiling at him in the most devilish way, all teeth and curving in a way which brought only one word to his mind; sexy. Stupid mind. All he could do was stare on with wide eyes as the god leaned forward, picking up a playstation controller and swiping a hand to turn on the entertainment systems with his magic. "Where were we up to?" the god asked, turning his attention back onto him, and he was at a loss for words. As the loading screen finished and the portal 2 scene created itself he let out a soft 'ah', nodding his head before moving the character around the screen to complete the puzzle.

Tony could see Clint knocking his arrow by the doorframe, aiming straight at the gods eyes, which were currently focused on the screen, although he was having some trouble as Loki's head bobbed slightly as he sang softly along with the song. "'Throw it up in the air, shake it like you don't care, sexy, turn it around, baby, do that kuduro.'"

Clint loosed the arrow and it went flying towards his head, although, before it could make it, it hit some kind of barrier which flashed a pulsing green over its surface, beginning at the point of contact and spreading into a dome over the lounge area, clearly protected and causing the arrow to fall to the floor.

To this Loki lifted his head, tossing the control to Tony. He caught it quickly, although it wouldn't have set him back to have to buy another. "Your go," he spoke to him before turning to the others, "How rude of me! I've yet to offer you a drink." He called, moving over to the bar while Scream by Usher came on. He pulled a glass down from the cabinet and poured himself a single malt, whilst filling another with scotch with a precision rarely seen by even the highest paid bar tenders. "'Ooh baby baby, ah-ooh baby baby ooh baby baby, Got no drink in my hand, but im wasted, Getting drunk on the thought of you naked' do you want anything? No? Alright then." He slid away from the bar while Tony was still left reeling on the couch holding the controls, the lyrics leafing through his mind.

He was literally frozen to the spot; what the ever loving fuck was going on, and what was he supposed to do about it? He registered the others talking, but his mind pushed it away as background noise as Loki pressed the scotch into his hand, his eyes following the touch of the glass to the gods lips and trailing the movement of his throat as he swallowed the liquid.

Loki set the cup on the table as he leant over to Tony and took the remote out of his hands, "You haven't even done anything. Come on, I thought we were trying to beat the time trials." He almost exploded when Loki's lips hit his cheek, he was panicking badly he knew it. Fucking Loki toying with EVERYTHING. The feeling only intensified as Loki continued to sing, "'Imagine me whispering in your ear, that I wanna take off all your clothes and put something on ya, And I tried to fight it, to fight it, But you're so magnetic, magnetic'"

"ENOUGH!" he heard Thor roar, and while it was enough to dislodge him from his stupor, it only caused Loki to turn and smile languidly at the group that had congregated just outside the invisible bubble thing. "You have troubled the man of iron enough over the past weeks, stop this." Loki paused long enough for the song to finish before Which MC Was That? By MC Frontalot came on and he started bouncing slightly in time with the music, and by slightly he means really miniscule movements which he could only notice because of the way he moved his head along as well, mouthing the words in small movements.

"Brother," Loki called, leaning back and wrapping an arm around Tony's shoulders, drawing him closer, "His name is _Ironman_." To this Thor raised his hammer and smashed it against the bubble, causing a devastating rumble signalling that something had been forced into effect. Loki just widened his eyes and looked to the bubble above his head. Tony was sure if Loki's mouth was open it would be emitting a high pitched 'oooooh', if the look plastered on his face and the raised brows was anything to go by. Tony looked at the still wobbling bubble and used the silence to his advantage, moving where Loki guided him – to the middle of the bubble. Apparently it was safest there. Loki ticked his eyes back to Thor, who was looking at him through squinted eyes.

"That was not very nice," Loki reprimanded, "you could have brought it down upon Tony's head. Is that how you believe one should repay such hospitality? By waving around that hammer? Because I assure you, you're wrong." He heard Clint laughing outside the bubble, but whether it was due to his words or to the fact that Loki was still holding his forearms as making sure he didn't move he didn't know.

"This is not helping your plight, brother." Thor continued, pointing his finger after deciding against using his hammer again.

"Oh, you've never approved of my choices Thor. Would you rather I choose someone else? I'm sure I can get Captain America into some sort of trouble, although he is far too grumpy for my liking; no offence."

"I'm too grumpy?" he shouted indignantly

"I said no offence." Ignoring Loki, Steve continued as the song changed to Shwick by Cobra Starship.

"Tony is the most emotionally unstable of us all – he is constantly rude and grumpy, and yet _I'm_ too grumpy?"

"Oh look at you fighting over me." He cooed, "But, rude and grumpy; not the words I'd use." He replied

"Yeah!" He stepped in, figuring he should probably defend himself if nothing else, "Smart and cocky, but hardly rude."

"You are as rude as he is!" Steve lashed an arm out at Loki.

Loki and Tony replied in unison; 'Hey, when did this become about me?' and 'It's not rude, people deserved to be treated like that' being their statements respectively. Of course Tony was defending himself in the light of the way the Avengers had been treating him. JARVIS skipped the song on Loki's request, not because he didn't like it, but because he wanted a more boppy song. Now Generation by Black Eyed Peas started.

"It's a lack of respect." Steve argued, watching as something ticked in both of their eyes, and they replied, again, in unison; "The kind of lack of respect that I adore." Tone matching a tune which he had no hope of identifying. Clint doubled over next to him, lungs struggling to pull in enough air through the laughter. Steve was seething, not a very attractive look, Tony noted, as he watched Natasha try to help Clint stand up through her own stifled laughter.

Loki started pushing out the lyrics again, no doubt trying to get Steve to chuck a fit, "'I want money, I want cold hard cash, I'll take your dollar and your euro and go have a blast, so take you debt and your credit and stick it up your ass and do it now!'" It worked as he tried to force his shield through the bubble, expecting it to work because, hey, nothing can break it. As it was it caused a backfire, sending him flying across the room, to which Loki let out a loud laugh. The force coupled with Loki's lack of attention was enough to cause the bubble to dissipate, letting Thor and Natasha step forward, Bruce hanging back with Clint who was still laughing. Loki held up his hands in mock surrender, "Nothing more than a bit of fun, I assure you." He said, smile still firmly in place, dragging Tony back with him as he retreated from the thunder god and his red haired companion. As it was, Tony was laughing hysterically as well, him and Clint pointing to each other and then at Loki and Steve to communicate their amusement to each other.

Until Tony found a large star-spangled super-soldier running towards him. To be fair, it was running at Loki, but it didn't make the prospect any lighter. He shut up real quick as he was pulled out of the way of what seemed to be an American Flag covered bull by the name of Steve Rogers. He turned back to them and raised a finger in pure rage.

"Well, it looks as though your friends aren't very impressed with me Tony, well, except Clint." He added, nodding his head from side to side as he pointed one arm to the archer catching his breath, the other wound around his waist, effectively gluing Tony to his side. He continued to walk them backwards until they were at the balcony, the other avengers matching his every step. "Oh come now, I've not done anything harmful." He called, raising one hand, the hand not gripping Tony to his side, not that Tony minded, in fact, he found the firm grip rather comforting in the face of the team advancing towards him. Hang on – had the tables been turned on him? The more he thought about it, the more he saw how Loki's actions were making the others behave around him. "Well then," Loki continued when the others said nothing in return, "I guess I'll be going."

He really didn't expect to be pulled into a kiss at that moment, but hey, that's what happened; Loki's mouth swinging down over his own, and he slapped his hands against the gods chest in a 'get away from me' motion more for show than out of actual desire for him to comply. He felt Loki smirk, slipping his tongue between his lips to trace his teeth quickly before ripping himself away with a "See you later", promptly stepping backwards off of the edge, tumbling backwards into thin air, smirk on his face and hand raised in a parting wave. Tony fell to the ground in shock as Clint fell down the stairs laughing himself silly again. Thor ran forward, worried for his brother, while Steve ran forward to make sure he splattered on the concrete far below. As it was they caught the tail end of him landing on his bike before coming back up to face them at an even level. "And for the sake of all you consider holy," he spoke patronisingly, "make sure that man gets enough air to function." He pointed to the still giggling Clint, before speeding away when Cap's shield went hurtling towards him.

Steve roared his displeasure and left to find out just where his shield had landed. Natasha shook her head at the situation, finding it amusing, but hardly as amusing as Clint. Thor looked at Tony with an unreadable emotion, and, if Tony was completely honest with himself, just for once, he didn't want to know. Bruce stayed long enough to make sure Clint's face had stopped being purple and returned to normal colour before leaving.

He pulled himself up and trudged his way to Clint, thinking that he somehow dodged a bullet there. The archer took his offered hand and righted himself, clapping Tony on the shoulder. "You two are good together." He giggled out, scampering away with a gasped "Funny guy that Loki" and a shake of his head as Tony screamed after him that they weren't a couple.

That night they had a chat about hero and villain relationships to which Tony vehemently argued he wasn't a part of. Thor had backed him up saying that Loki was probably just toying with them, although it was odd of him to be so forward. Steve chastised him for being too soft on his brother while Thor assured them Loki had meant no harm.

Clint came to him 2 days later and the first thing Tony said while observing him was; "Giggle fit." Which was completely accurate mind you, as Clint just shook his head, trying to convey what he had seen that had amused him thus. Finally composing himself he began to lead Tony down the corridors, relaying a tale of last night where he and Rogers had got in a fight about laughing at inappropriate times, to which he had replied that Rogers was just jealous he didn't have a stick up his ass and told him he could practically see the green in his hair, that's how envious he was. Halfway through the tale he started laughing again, but Tony could just make out the story.

"And then- and then!" he continued laughing, pulling Tony into a jog as they came to the last of the corridors, "Look! Look what your boyfriend did!" and he fell against the wall of the room he'd pulled Tony into. Tony looked away from the archer and towards the man who was held down by multiple restraints in a chair. Steve Rogers, featuring green hair. He couldn't help the burst of laughter that escaped him.

"Don't you dare Tony, or I'll give you the speech too." He said sternly, a hell of a lot less intimidating now.

"Coz that turned out so well for you when you tried it with Clint."

"This is all your fault."

"Hey! How is this my fault? Can't you just wash it out?"

"No," Bruce replied, coming in from the side room, "I tried, and then I tried to bleach it. When that didn't work I looked at it under a microscope – his hair is actually green, not blonde; green."

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Steve screamed at him

"How is this my fault?" he was still smiling

"If you weren't canoodling with Loki, I would have Normal Hair!" Steve flexed and he understood why they'd put him in restraints.

"I'm not _canoodling_ with Loki. And what makes you think it was him anyway?" Steve pointed with the little movement he could to Thor who was trying his darndess to scrub a hole through something. He caught his eye, and Thor rolled them before lifting the Captains Shield which had graffiti plastered across it. In the middle, I large letters read; 'Loki is cool' and the obnoxiousness of it made him laugh, before he read the writing which skirted the outside; 'Green hair as requested by Clint Barton.'

"It won't wash off." Thor said in a somewhat sad voice; as if the fact he couldn't clean the shield weighed heavily on his soul, to think, the almighty Thor, unable to complete a task.

"By all means, Tony" Clint began, still letting out puffs of laughter, "If this is what it leads to, then 'canoodle' with Loki all you want – canoodle with him more, Jesus Fucking Christ this is _hilarious_!" Well now he knew how to get Clint to forgive him, attack through humour – it was enough for him to forgive Loki, and that probably says a lot.

"Thanks for your blessing." He drawled sarcastically.

"Tony. How. Do. I. Get. This. Back. To. NORMAL." Steve cried out

"How should I know? Really guys, I had no idea this was gonna happen, because as much as you might like the idea, _Loki and I_ _aren't canoodling_! But seen as it was done by Clint's request, and he likes to be poetic or whatever, maybe it'll undo if Clint's terms are met."

"Are you saying he has to do what I say to get things back to normal?"

"_Maybe_. I don't know."

"Sweet!" Clint cried out, jumping up, "I love magic!" he pointed at Steve and chose the one thing that would hurt him most; "I want you to apologise!"

"No way, that's stupid. No way will that work."

"It's worth a try, or you'll be stuck that way forever." Clint sung, waggling his finger in front of his face.

"Tony and Clint are right, friend Steve." Thor spoke up, placing the shield on the ground, "My brother is the god of Mischief above all else, and he values nothing more than people getting what they deserve, albeit through the most humorous of ways."

"Then he shouldn't be opposed to his own death." Steve spat angrily.

"DO NOT SPEAK OF WHAT YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND!" Thor yelled, but the anger faded quickly to a more coercive nature. What the hell did Thor mean when he kept saying that? Maybe he would ask Loki, assuming he came back; he hoped he did.

It was two days later when Steve finally apologised, he was ready to give anything a go at that point. As it was he had to try multiple times to get in sincere enough, and, true to form, his hair faded from bright green to its usual blonde. The god appeared in the corner of the room and wiped the shield clean with his hand, before walking over to Clint and giving him a handshake that turned into one of those shoulder-bump-one-armed guy hugs, before sauntering away. Tony refused to feel anything at the action. Clint was still laughing, although now it expressed itself in low rumbles and a face-splitting smile. Loki turned back to the trio, hands raised high in the air as he stepped backwards away from them, as if regarding a crowd giving its applause.

Steve picked up his shield and let out a roar as he noticed the "Loki was here, '12" in small writing along the side. Tony watched as he started walking towards the god. He also watched as the god turned to him and gave him a very deliberate wink before disappearing into thin air.

In his rage, Steve slammed the shield into the ground, causing a dent.

Tony told him to go ruin someone else's house.

Steve gave him a terrifying look.

Clint tried not to laugh.

~~~~~ MWAHAHA PAGEBREAK~~~~~

Back to more humorous roots : )

Hopefully it wasn't too bad.

Leave a comment/review/whatevar

Still got a butt load of plans for this, so…

Stay tuned and stay awesome


	9. Chapter 9

Because I have a whole day and nothing better to do…

Apart from homework, which I don't want to do…

LUCKY FOR YOU I FEEL LIKE WRITING INSTEAD OF PLAYING PORTAL 2 (that may or may not be because I'm stuck)

Giz me music and a laptop and I'll write for life

Letz goooooo

~~~~~PROCRASTINATION PAGEBREAK~~~~~

Much like texta on a wall, every time Steve tried to paint over Loki's graffiti on his shield, it would show through just as strong. It made him incessantly mad and he had not set a step outside of his quarters at HQ for many days. Thor said he was lucky Loki decided to leave it so small and inconspicuous.

In other news, Loki had made Tony say he was hot.

Between the signing of the shield and now, Loki had made one visit to a brooding Tony Stark. Be mindful that this brooding Tony Stark just so happened to also be holding a bottle in his hand with various others scattered around at his feet.

And just as he decided he'd take another sip, well; gulp, Loki appeared. Tony was seated on the ground, back and head supported by the cupboard behind him in the garage/workshop/current drinking grounds. He hated everything, whether it was because it was what he was actually feeling or a drunken fuelled rage he didn't know anymore. All he knew is that he hadn't drunk enough and that he was too lazy to get up to retrieve more alcohol. For now. He would later when things came flooding back and the memories of caves and dirt wouldn't leave him. Which would be pretty soon, he guessed, watching as the things in front of him started to form an unpleasant image before returning back to his actual environment.

He remembers feeling shit-tastic as he lay there in the stupor, considering his chances of being able to burrow himself into the concrete ground and just lay there forever. He also remembers how those emotions began to tilt sideways when his most favourite person appeared out of no-where mid walk in the middle of the room. He was only his favourite person because right now he was hating on the others due to the argument; something about funding and public image – pfft no.

The man – well, he was hardly a man – the god in front of him wore a tight lipped smile as he practically slid across the floor in elegance. It seemed nice to see the god, which meant, yeah he had drunk enough for his feelings to take over his rational mind, which was great really, if he wanted to make a fool out of himself.

"Heeey, man- no wait, God" he called from the floor. Loki, in response, tilted his head and gave him a somewhat sideways look, mouth pulling into something more amused than something smug. He waved his glass as the god crossed the final space between them.

"Anthony," he sounded, crouching down before the figure on the floor, forearms hanging on his knees, one hand holding a sceptre, the other falling loosely. He was wearing his normal armour, minus the helmet, bright green eyes alert to his surroundings. His hair looked soft and fell just so around his face. "You are inebriated." He raised his brows slightly, lips continuing to tweak upwards in a barely supressed grin.

"And you are hot." Tony cried out, happy grin plastered on his face sloppily, bottle pointing towards the god in indication. Did he just say that? He didn't did he? Loki's brows rose more, lips pursing together to stop from breaking into a laugh.

"Definitely drunk." The god spoke, clapping his leg twice as if in reassurance. Loki's eyes left his own to scan around the workshop. No-one was here, Tony knew, because he'd locked the place down an hour ago.

"Definitely true." He continued to dig himself into this hole. Loki's eyes snapped back to his, something like uncertainty dancing behind them.

"What are you doing?" Loki asks him, moving one of his feet for comfort, yet still remaining in the crouch.

"Telling you what I'm thinking." He smiling like it's the greatest idea in the world, yet that tiny little part of his brain still thinking coherently is telling him otherwise.

"You do realise that I'm playing you." He asks

"But you said you love me," he puts on the greatest pout he can, clearly fake and not very good if Loki's answering face is anything to go by.

"You know that was a play, you have seen its effects in action."

"Doesn't mean I don't think you're hot," and he's still smiling like a fool, he should probably stop, but his alcohol muddled mind thinks this is the best way to go about things and it won't be persuaded. The quick duck of Loki's head as a soft blush spreads across his cheeks is enough to make him want to say it again. The gods still smiling so he probably hasn't done anything too wrong yet.

"You are an odd human Stark," he says as he turns and leans against the cupboard next to him, "Saying such things to a monster without a heart." The smile on his face makes him want to run, filled with sadness and hate as it is, but he's still too lazy to move.

"But you care, so you have to have a heart." His drunken logic prevails, making him seem foolish.

"You have seen me care?" it's a challenge – prove to me I have a heart – although he probably expects Tony to lose. Well he's got another thing coming.

"On the bike you cared." He spoke, letting his head fall back against the cupboard and roll to face the other.

"I did not care." He crooks his head nonchalantly.

"You did! Your hand was shaking and you were all, what's that word, uh… starts with an 'a', maybe an 'n'" he prompted, waving a hand as he searched, the god looking on indifferently, "Whatever, I'm going to say worried instead – you were worried."

"Would you not be with a legion of hellions running at you?"

"No, you cared. You might not think so, but you did, otherwise you wouldn't have saved me in the first place." He knew he'd struck some kind of nerve with the way the gods jaw clenched, working itself as he stared holes into the floor.

"You are mistaken," his voice is low and nowhere near as carefree as before, still watching the ground.

"Am I?" perhaps he was too bold, what with a god next to him and no way to protect himself.

"You don't know what you are getting into." He warns, fists clenching

"There you go caring again, making sure I don't get into trouble. And what about when you tried to do everything you could not to get me to fall on the ground. Thor tells us of when he almost got you to stop-" he starts counting things on his fingers before he's interrupted

"Fine!" Loki's eyes snap to meet his, and all he can see is the pain twisted in the features, "Fine I care!" his eyes shine with wetness and Tony's still trying to figure out why he's not dead, "I care, and it's stupid, because I try, I really do, but I am what I am, and nothing can stop that! Every time I try. Because I'm an idiot and I can't get the hint that there is no need for a god of chaos, apart from something for everyone to hate – a collective enemy." His voice is softening, pain lacing the words, "I hate it. I wish I didn't have a heart, that way I could survive this existence peacefully." His face is downturned now, lips snarled, "Never let it be said that the god of chaos doesn't care; for he cares far too much to be healthy." He's looking at his hands like he wants them to explode into flames, wants them to fall apart so he never has to touch anything again.

"So what it's not healthy," he tries softly, "It's what makes you right."

"I am not 'right', Stark; I am a god sitting on your basement floor unloading everything into a gigantic mess you should not be a part of. I try to gain the approval of your public by giving gifts and letting them swarm me; it is pathetic and futile. I cannot live here after what I had to do; your people hate me for it."

"I have a fair amount of mess too." He ignores the second half, maybe they'll get back to it later.

"Yes, but you have your team; and while you may be mad at them, it is more than I have."

"You have Thor." He tries, because the guy is really sad and hey, maybe it's the philanthropist in him coming out.

"He does not deign to talk to me for fear of how your team would react." He spits out the sentence with hate, head lifting and tilting back to rest against the cupboard, looking to the roof.

"Well," he begins, knowing what he's about to say is incredibly stupid; "You have me." The god lets out a chuckle, eyes sliding over to meet his.

"But you are drunk," he lets his trepidation be known, "You could care less; I am your enemy and I am sure our conversation will be the cause of your amusement for some time to come. Even more so if you ever manage to capture me."

"Nah." Tony sighs out, "Besides, your too hot to go in a cell; how would I get to you then?" Loki's averting his eyes again and the pink is beginning to ripple along his cheeks. Excellent. "Awww, now you're just cute." He smiles as Loki look back to him and shoves his arm. He takes another sip, how is this bottle not empty yet?

"I am not cute." He puts on his best defiant face.

"Alright then, pretty." Tony receives a look, "Fine, fine. Look at all your cares now. Now, give us a kiss." He smiles cockily

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Why not?" he moans, watching as the liquid in his bottle rises to the top again, "Hey, are you trying to get me drunk?" he points to the offending bottle.

"You already were drunk."

"Trying to take advantage of me?"

"Stop talking Anthony." His voice is firm this time, no argument available.

"Why?"

"I believe your teammates heard part of our conversation throughout your corridors, they are heading down here now."

"Well you were pretty loud yelling at me, and how can you tell, got magical cameras everywhere?" he tries to raise himself to his feet, only to be held down by a firm hand on his chest.

"I am sorry for my volume, but I can hear the elevator now." He says, and as if on cue, the doors slide open to reveal the avengers co-hort. They all look worried, but on looking through the reinforced glass walls and observing the scene, Steve becomes infuriated and Clint becomes, he's not sure, but he thinks he sees Clint relax.

Tony laughs as Steve begins talking, but he can't hear what's being said because the com isn't on and nothing gets through those doors when they're closed. It's amusing to watch as Steve realises the problem and walks to the transmitter, holding in the button before repeating the demand. "Loki, get away from Tony right now or else." He is seething, vein in his head pumping, and Tony, in his drunkenness finds it amusing, giggling as Loki responds.

"Sorry, I'm all out of fucks to be given." Face projecting a smug challenge.

"You're going to get me in trouble," he told Loki

"It is me you're dealing with. And I wouldn't be myself if there wasn't trouble." He gave a toothy grin, for who he wasn't sure.

"LOKI." Steve ground out, placing his shield by the door, getting ready to punch through the glass.

"Alright, alright," the god acquiesced, pushing onto his knees. He rested a hand against Tony's shoulder, "What is it with your team and always interrupting our quality time?" he asked in mock exasperation, tapping the shoulder before standing. Who knew Loki was such a touchy guy, constantly tapping him. He bent down to pick up his staff. "Not to worry, I'm sure there's some media event I can head to." He smiled as he walked away, dissipating into thin air.

After a lengthy pause in which everyone stared at the spot where Loki had disappeared, Tony decided to speak up, "Last time he told me he was going to a media event, he actually was, so, maybe you should, y'know, figure that shit out." He mumbled as he pulled himself up from the floor, the others still unable to reach him. "JARVIS, open the doors"

"Of course, Sir."

"And find out what channel Loki's on." Steve input, stalking forward and wrenching Tony up and over to a seat, dropping him ceremonially into it.

"That would be all of them, Mr Rogers."

"What do you mean; all of them?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What, you think that if Loki wants to say something the reporters won't get it?" Tony asked, "They would get paid a butt-load for a few seconds of Loki on screen. JARVIS, pull up the live feeds."

Multiple screens descended and came to life, images of Loki from all sides and all in complete sync with one another. Whatever Loki had gone to start, it had already begun; they only caught the tail end of one of the reporters' questions; "… America?"

"Oh yes, he even let me sign his shield, see." He held up the vibranium object for the cameras, finger pointing daintily to the unwashable words. Steve spun around quickly and clenched his hands into hard fists as he saw that his shield was no longer by the door. "He does get rather angry when I spend time with Tony though," he said, brow furrowing for a moment in mock confusion, "Perhaps he is jealous." His face split with a huge grin. Tony could hear Steve breathing out his nose trying to calm himself, while Clint was really trying his hardest not to laugh. He turned to the archer and gave him a smile and a wink, to which he replied with a thumbs-up. Approved.

"You hang out with Tony Stark?" asked another reporter, and Loki turned his head to face her. The shield in his hand disappeared in a burst of green flame as he flattened out his coat.

"Of course, I saved his life; that does tend to bring people closer."

"So you didn't bring about the invasion last week?" he chuckled, although Tony could see how the lack of trust sat with him.

"No, I did promise to sound music at my next event, did I not? Anything between now and the date you hear the song will be but a whim, nothing more."

"How does the rest of the team feel about your relations with Tony Stark or the Captain?"

"I presume they have many unsupported theories, however I cannot divulge what they are, for I know not what they are. But as for my time spent with Tony, I would say that the Captains reactions are less than positive. Dare I say it; he may be the grouchiest Avenger." He raised his eyebrows to Clint, who in turn gave an appropriately scandalised response.

"Really?" the woman asked again

"Indeed" he said with wide eyes, like he was conspiring with them, "It's madness; I've yet to meet someone else so opposed to conversation. Although, that may change if the director ever hears this." He looked directly at the camera, tapping one finger to the side of his head before pointing it down the barrel of it.

"What will you do if he stops your visitations?"

"You mean _when_, my dear. I am surprised it has not happened yet, but, as my brother can attest, I do what I want. That is unless, of course, my duty gets in the way, but hey, you win some you lose some."

"LOKI!" everyone on screen turned to the noise, Loki looking perhaps shocked as his form spun to face the caller of his name. Cameras zoomed out to show Captain America standing down the street, decked out in full uniform. The other looked around the garage; none of them had noticed he left.

"If you'll excuse me a moment." Loki spoke politely, giving a sort-of-bow as he stepped back and away from the people. Walking over to Steve, the remainder of the avengers were left to try and interpret their conversation through their body movements. Loki looked like he was being a complete gentleman, but that was probably his intention, whilst Steve just let out string after string of yelled words.

It's sudden when it happens; Loki holds up a hand to silence Steve, and whatever his face looked like, it did the job. The super-soldier shut-up and watched as Loki turned his head slowly, eyes flicking across the city scape. Steve went to speak again, but Loki clamped a hand over his mouth, the other clasping his uniform, eyes still creeping over the buildings surrounding them. It was eerily quiet as people watched the scene unfold, so quiet that when Loki spoke there was not enough interference to block the sound and they heard the words clear as day; "The fuck is going on?" He pulled in closer to Steve; "Clear the streets."

Loki looked around again before stepping forward and disappearing into the ether.

~~~~~PROCRASTINATION PAGEBREAK~~~~~

So yeah, I set out to write something completely different this chapter, but then this happened, so you'll see what I wanted to happen next chapter.

Again, I am just writing this to avoid actually doing things

Thanks for all you guys' lovely input, you have no idea how much I love every single loving review I receive. Aahhhhhhhh. So much love.

Leave your thoughts in a comment/review/whatevar

Stay tuned and Stay awesome


	10. Chapter 10

Because I want angst, but I can't write my other story for a week, coz I have to wait for votes.

~~~~~STILL PROCRASTINATING PAGEBREAK~~~~~

Steve had done what Loki said, albeit reluctantly. Something about the way Loki said it had put a fear in Steve, whilst Thor insisted they enforce the orders across the whole city, even though Tony was sure he wasn't sober enough to be of much help. Luckily, the suit, along with the help of JARVIS could mostly fly itself.

Everyone had gone indoors, underground and as far away from the surface as they could. The avengers all suited up and split, each protecting a district to make sure civilians were safe.

The streets were quiet, rubbish scarcely daring to move in the subtle wind. Tony wasn't going to deny it; he was scared. Thor was worried, and if happy go lucky was unsure, then he might as well be prepared to die. They kept communication to a minimum so that they might pick up any sound or trace of what was happening. Bruce had tech with him while he stood guard of his sector, watching for any signs of activity, but so far nothing had happened.

In the following ten minutes, Tony caught sight of Loki once, slinking across rooftops, eyes searching the landscape frantically. Natasha reported seeing him doing the same thing once as well. They were quite literally in the calm before the storm.

All they could do was wait with bated breath, continuously readying themselves for what was to come. It was another five minutes of the most apprehensive time he'd endured since the ten rings until anything happened. He wasn't ready for it, standing stock still, and the city quieter than it had ever possibly been. The silence seemed artificial, each movement causing a ricochet through the streets, the rustle of a paper being able to be heard a block away.

Sound suddenly pierced the air, carrying across the entire city, as large a place as that may be. It was an animalistic roar, shrill and pained in every sense of the word. It was the type of noise ripped from others, the nature truly horrible. It rang out for almost four seconds, but it brought the public to tears, hearing such anguish for what felt like hours.

As soon as it stopped the city returned to dead silence, broken only by the occasional tear hitting the pavement.

They stayed on their positions for hours, the time carrying from day to night.

They waited until morning before they ran a concentrated loop of the city with a fine toothed comb, dictating the area safe. By then Tony felt more sober than he had in years, the past events running a continuous loop in his mind. That scream wouldn't leave his ears.

No-one knew what had happened, and Thor felt neither positively or negatively on the subject. The public didn't question their actions, they had all heard the scream that had rang throughout the city.

Fury questioned them though; of course he did, spurting out about how stupid they were allowing things to get this far – allowing Loki to run free. They had all been too confused to be able to say much in return, the past events reeling through their minds. Bruce told Fury he relinquished the rights to chastise them when he went AWOL for months on end. Fury had continued to yell, but they didn't pay attention, not really. Even Steve managed to stay quiet.

But hey, that was what, like, five days ago? Everything had gone back to normal by now; the public all but forgetting anything even happened; the avengers going back to their normal duties; arguing amongst each other for any type of control; Tony back to sitting in his workshop – the one just under his penthouse as opposed to the one in the basement.

Of course he had a penthouse at Avengers HQ; he'd paid for its construction, so he was getting it, everyone else could share floors, he wouldn't. Hell, he could barely manage sharing the building, which is why he still had his penthouse in the Stark Tower if he ever wanted even more privacy.

But anyway; in his workshop below his penthouse in Avengers HQ.

He was working on more tech for the team; more importantly, some form of communication device that was small enough to go undetected whilst still being completely and entirely functional. He was engrossed in the work, which is why he startled so hard and almost fell out of his chair at the level of noise that suddenly penetrated his workshop. It's amazing how much you don't realise about your house until something like this happens. For instance, Tony had always thought the walls were soundproof; but the distinct sound of crashing, smashing and, well, overall destruction put an end to his assumptions.

He paused for a moment, listening as his room above him continued to be pulverised by an unknown force. It wasn't until he heard the tell-tale smash of glass and liquid which could only have been some of his more expensive liquor – since he kept all his most expensive liquor up there – that he began to move.

He bypassed the elevator and headed straight for the stairs, knowing he could traverse them faster than it would take for an elevator to get to his floor. He rounded the stair well and came into the wide open space, feet coming to a halt as he observed the scene in front of him. Glass was everywhere, pieces of various items joining the liquid on the floor, and, was that, half his plasma? Yes, it definitely was. More alarming than this though was the blood smeared on the kitchen bench, the cupboard supports, the floor. He followed the trajectory of the blood, but, honestly he wouldn't have had too, the figure it lead to stuck out against the white walls like a stain.

"You mind not ruining my room?" Tony asks as he steps towards him, but he paused just as quickly when he noticed the red pooling at his feet. "You okay?" he asks, voice now resembling something like concern as opposed to the cockiness it held before. Now that he looked more carefully he could see the red that fell from his finger-tips, a white cloth wrapped tightly around his head. The entire form was shaking, trembling somewhat violently as it raised one hand in a sign of surrender. "Loki, look at me." He spoke with more strength than he felt; there was blood on the god's hands, if he had killed someone…

The god spun slowly, one hand still raised while the other was pressed tightly to his abdomen. His eyes lifted from the floor to meet Tony's and they were blood red. He took half a step back quickly as he took in the image in front of him. Loki still had one hand raised, and blood dripped from it onto the floor. His other hand had blood seeping between his fingers. Two thick tubes were protruding from his chest, looking like they were cutting straight into his lungs. His mouth and jaw were wrapped in the tight white bandage, holding his mouth closed, although the fabric was becoming more red the longer he stood there, contrasting hectically with the blue pallor of his skin. Blue skin, the complexion of cobalt, raised marks skirting over his face.

He didn't think twice about skirting the deathly glare to catch the god as he began tumbling towards the floor. He didn't get there quite fast enough and Loki's knees connected with the ground, and dull crack echoing through the space. Tony watched as the god clenched his fist before it went sailing through the wall next to him, creating a hole straight through to the adjacent room. His chest heaved, filling with breath and Tony could hear the air whistling through the tubes before shuttering out.

"Shit," He gasped, holding up the taller god, making sure his torso didn't move and rip the skin where the pipes were. He was so cold, unnaturally so. "Do you think you can get to the couch?" it would be ruined but he didn't much care at the moment. The god gave a sloppy nod, legs pushing at the ground in an attempt to stand. He couldn't. "This is going to hurt okay?" Tony asked as he looped an arm under his knees, the other wrapping around his back. He counted himself as a pretty strong guy, but the ease at which he lifted Loki disturbed him. He carried the light weight to the leather as smoothly as possible, trying not to aggravate any wounds. Loki's face was screwed up in pain, but he didn't make a noise, even as he tried to crumple in on himself upon being laid down.

Tony straightened him out and worked on pulling off the gag so that he could communicate with the god. As soon as the cloth left his face, Loki's jaw clamped shut tightly, but even so he could see the smooth skin wrapping around and into his mouth. Too smooth. "Can you talk?" he asked softly, hands ghosting over the gods arms and chest, wanting touch for reassurance Loki wouldn't disappear, but not wanting to hurt him. He received a tight shake of his head, the action causing the red eyes to fill with tears, veins and tendons in his neck and face straining with pain. "Do you want me to get Thor?" he asked softly, thinking the other god would know more about this than he. Again he shook his head, eyes clenching shut at the pain, blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth. Tony pressed a pen from the table behind him into the blue hand, holding out a pad of paper so that he could write instead of moving. It proved troublesome as the blood caused his grip to be slippery. Red dropped onto the paper as the god wrote his first message; 'If you tell Thor, things start exploding.' He reads the words, ripping out the used piece and tossing it to the floor. There wasn't much left up here to break, but he got the hint either way. "Okay, from now on, one blink for yes, two for no, okay?" he received a quick blink in return. He nodded and looked to the chest of the being before him. Blood was coating the armour that still hung off of his frame. "We have to get these pipes out." He mumbled to himself.

His bicep was quickly in a trembling grip, taking his attention away from the wounds as to Loki's face. He blinked twice rapidly. "What? Why?" The god motioned for writing and Tony held the paper as steadily as he could beneath Loki's hand. 'Need them to breathe.' Tony looked at the elegant writing before tossing the used sheet to the ground, placing the pad back under his hand. "Why, what's wrong with breathing normally? What happened?"

'Diethyl Ether.' He looked at the two words trying to figure out what they meant. The solution wasn't incredibly dangerous, apart from its ability as a combusting agent; it could be set alight at negative 49 degrees Fahrenheit. He pushed the paper back down for Loki to continue; 'The only thing they could get to combust at my temperature.'

Tony had a sudden shocking revelation on what had happened. No wonder he couldn't breathe or speak; he'd thought those smooth sections had looked like burn marks.

Whoever the hell had gotten a hold of Loki had poured the liquid down his throat before setting it alight.

The thought of it was enough to make him retch all into the waste basket at the end of the table, breath coming in ragged gasps. Who could do that to someone, to anyone?

He pulled himself up and held out the paper, fighting to keep his own hands still. "What do I do?"

'I need rest.' He stared at the paper blankly.

"Rest?" his voice hit a pitch he never knew it could. One blink. "How the hell could you just need rest? Look at you, YOU'RE BLUE for gods sakes! Surely you need something more than rest! Anything, I can get anything for you." He pleaded, pushing the paper under his hand again.

'Clean.'

"Clean? You need to be clean?" he could feel his eyes were still wide, and could still taste the contents of his stomach in his mouth. One blink. "Clean, okay, yeah. Clean, I can do that. I just – I gotta get a med kit, okay? I'll be right back." He took the waste basket as he went, dumping it in the bathroom and filling another bucket while he ripped through the cupboards looking for antiseptic and swabs and every other bit of medical supplies he could find. The water in the bucket was cold, but he hardly thought Loki would mind, being as cold as he was to touch.

Back in the lounge room he skirted his hands over Loki's body, looking for clasps and catches that would help him get the clothing off. He became frustrated quickly, as panicked as he was, blood still escaping between the blue fingers pressed tightly against his stomach. His attention was diverted when Loki grabbed his chin with a blood slicked finger and thumb. The god made a snipping motion with his fingers. "Cut it off?" One blink. He nodded and ran to the kitchen, returning with the knife that looked like it would give the best control. He began at the bottom, working his way to the top, cutting strips around the pipes that could be lifted away before peeling the rest of the clothing out to the sides. Loki had to remove his hand for this, and it gave Tony the opportunity to look the wound over.

Something had been jammed into the skin, and, whatever it was still remained, letting off a pulsing glow and sending it arcing through Loki's muscles. He reached forward to grab it but was stopped by a hand around his wrist. Loki wasn't letting him touch it, even if the object stopped the wound from ceasing to bleed. He reached back and grabbed tweezers showing them to the god. Loki let him go and he proceeded to pull the offending piece out, tossing it onto the glass table and placing a cup over it so that he wouldn't accidentally touch it.

Loki's lungs were pulling air in and out quickly, and although his pain was scrunched up in pain from the movement, the air was still bypassing his trachea, not coming in through his mouth or nose. The chest cavity rose heavily before it collapsed back down on itself, its speed much too fast for Tony's liking, but there was little he could do.

He grabbed the cloth and started to clear the skin under his palms, turning them from a dark red to the royal blue of the skin beneath. His hands were freezing, the cold of the water and Loki's own chill giving his hands no time to warm, but it didn't concern him. He was especially careful when cleaning around the pipes, one hand resting on the gods chest to steady himself while the other wiped softly at the contused skin. He turned to put the last cloth in the bucket of now red water. The wound in Loki's side had stopped bleeding, and while his chest was mottled with colours he was sure marked bruising, he looked a fair sight better than before. As he turned he found his hand was being held to his chest. Looking down he could see how the blue skin was spreading away, alabaster complexion taking back dominion as his body heat warmed the chest. It didn't move far, and as soon as he removed his hand the blue came rushing back, but he had seen the reassurance it planted in the red eyes below him. He'd do anything right now to keep those eyes looking so hopeful.

"I'm going to move you to my bedroom, okay?" it was the only bed up here, and the couch wasn't comfortable – he knew that. Now knowing what he was dealing with he found himself more confident in transporting the tortured god. Loki blinked once before his eyes closed heavily.

Whatever he'd done to earn enough of the gods trust that he would let himself be in such a vulnerable state, he was sure it wasn't enough. He wouldn't have trusted after the interactions they'd had, but, trust was hard to come by, probably even more so for the god in his arms. Perhaps he trusted Tony the most. As sad as it seemed, that the god trusted his enemy the most, it made sense seen as Loki didn't even want his own brother near him like this.

He laid Loki on the bed, making sure he was comfortable before heading to leave. Loki opened his eyes and gave Tony the biggest smile he could manage, which was damn tiny, but it did more to his feelings than any of his others ever had.

He flicked his attention to his communicator as he clicked the door shut. He caught sight of himself in the mirror; he was covered in blood now.

"Man of Iron, my brother is in the building." Thor sounded concerned

"I know. Thor, it's not good…"

~~~~~ STILL PROCRASTINATING PAGEBREAK~~~~~

What have I done!

Gah! I just kept writing and then this happened; but it suits my plans perfectly, and while I had this planned I didn't have it set out exactly.

Leave your thoughts in a comment/review/whatevar

Stay tuned and stay awesome


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry about the wait, I would have typed up another chapter on Wednesday but I had a test on Thursday I had to study for. Good news is, holidays start next week, and I feel more inclined to write this than to study for my year 12 finals; which, in retrospect, probably isn't really all that good, for me at least.

Some people are trying to guess whats going to happen, and some are coming rather close, however I believe you would only be able to join the ideas if you knew the exact context of the situation. With that said, none of you have guessed correctly yet, but you can keep trying if you like.

I love hearing ideas from you guys, so leave them for me to read through.

Also, if you like Captain America, sorry I keep making him out as the bad guy…

For now; enjoy.

~~~~~PARTY TONIGHT PAGEBREAK~~~~~

Tony went downstairs to speak with Thor. He had kinda promised Loki not to go get Thor, but the guy already knew his brother was here so…

He didn't have time to clean himself which, in hindsight would have been a good idea.

He exited the elevator to find everyone standing around and waiting for him. Okay, maybe they weren't waiting on him as so much talking about Loki's apparent presence in the building, but that didn't stop everyone's attention snapping to him as he stepped out.

He figured he made quite the sight, y'know, being covered in blood and all. Most of it had dried, but some of the blood on his palms still slid freely.

"Holy shit, Tony! Are you alright?" Natasha rushing forward to check him over, Clint by her side.

"Fucking motherfucker!" Clint exclaimed looking him over.

"I told you to keep away from Loki!" Steve accused, and it was then that he realised what conclusion they had come to.

"It's not mine." He spoke softly, hands still shaking; keeping them raised in front of him, for what reason he had no idea.

"Fucking hell Steve," Clint cut in, "Shut up." Walking to grab a cloth and fill it with water.

Bruce was by Tony's side and he hadn't even noticed. "That's a lot of blood." He forced his head to nod as Clint came back and wiped his hands clean.

"What has happened man of Iron?" Thor asked, cutting through the small group of people, "What is it that ails you?"

"Nothing, Thor. I'm not– not ailed. " He's still standing and ready to make his escape into the elevator the moment this gets out of hand, or the moment JARVIS informs him of a change in Loki's condition.

"Then what has happened? Where has this blood come from?" Somehow his voice seems softer; Tony didn't know it had a setting other than boisterous.

"It's Loki's." Everyone looks shocked, apart from Steve who may look a little happy. It could have been the light, but Tony thinks that's what he sees for that split second and he sees red. Not just the red on his arms and clothes though, but the red that erupted from Rogers' nose and mouth as his fist connected with it violently. "Fuck you asshole! You have NO IDEA what I just saw!" Bruce had his hand on one of his arms, warning him to stop. Thor grabbed at his arms and demanded his attention.

"What is it? What has befallen my brother?"

"I-" he choked on the word, "I don't know. He's uh, he had this thing. In his side. It was like this big," he held up his fingers trying not to hurl at the memories, "And it was sending some kind of shock into him or something." He took note of the displeased faces around him; he didn't pretend they cared what had happened to Loki, except for Thor, but he knew they cared about his reaction to it. "They, uh, whoever had him, they-" he stops momentarily, oesophagus contracting and threatening to bring up his food, letting a sputtering cough out of his mouth, "They used Diethyl Ether, and they- they poured it down his throat." His mouth was sticky and he could feel water running down his cheeks in his efforts to not empty his stomach across his team mates.

"That's not that poisonous though," Bruce supplied, confused by the words and the actions.

"They lit it on fire." His voice sounds like the wind, a soft whine carrying such heavy words. He watches as Bruce and Clint head for the sink retching harshly. Thor's skin turns white as a sheet, not understanding the chemical, but understanding the implications of having ones insides lit on fire. Natasha is green and has minutely shaking hands covering her mouth. Steve, for his part, looks like a mix of the latter two, a pale green that did not look good on him. He still had their undivided attention as Clint and Bruce looked to him from where they still cowered over the sinks. "He has pipes, in his chest, so- so he can breathe." He realises grimly that even he couldn't have looked that bad after his time with the ten rings. He'd made it out better off than Loki had. "And he's blue." Bruce's head snaps up medical knowledge snapping into action.

"Is he…" he can't finish the sentence as he bends over the sink again.

"No, he's alive. Just, he's just blue." He's not had this hard a time talking in a while, not when he really has something important to say.

"I must see my brother." Thor speaks with determination.

"No. Thor, you gotta stay down here."

"I must see my brother, Stark."

"No. Thor, you can't see this alright?"

"Man of Iron," he had an angry look set on his face, "I will see my brother." He made to shove past Tony, but he shoved back at the thunder god's chest.

"No! I made him a promise! I PROMISED him! I understand, it must suck, but for whatever reason he doesn't want you there, and I promised him. I'm breaking that promise by telling you this, so you can just stay down here." Thor is quiet for a long moment

"You are noble and loyal Tony Stark. I loathe to stay down here, but I will do as you ask." His jaw is clenched like its taking every ounce of his effort not to smash his way up there. It probably is.

"Alright, you guys need to stay down here too. Except you Bruce. He said he just needed rest, but I really, _really_ need you to look him over for me, okay? I don't know this stuff." He felt so tired, every movement weighed so heavily on him. Bruce gave a resolute nod as he collected himself from the kitchen and made his way to his room, returning with a large and fully stocked med-kit in hand.

Before the elevator made its journey up he had one more question for his patient's brother. "Thor, why is he blue?" he needed to know, for his own sanity and the health of the other.

"Father told me that Loki… is not of Asgard. He is a frost giant, born from Jotunheim, but I have not seen this blue state you speak of. If anything is the cause of it, it is his heritage." Thor speaks to the floor, the word frost giant seeming like an atrocity on his tongue, something disgusting. The doors slid closed and he punched the button to his own room.

"JARVIS, an update?"

"Nothing has changed, Sir." He sighed, not knowing if it was a positive or a negative.

He stopped Banner just outside the bedroom door.

"Look, I know I explained his situation, but please. Don't underestimate it. It's not anything you could possibly be prepared for." Bruce nods in return and he pushes the door open. The sheets have begun turning red where the god lays, and he looks just as bad as he did before, the tubes spitting specks of blood over his chest. Turns out, Bruce didn't really get the message as he slammed the adjoining bathroom door shut and gaged turbulently. Tony scrubbed his face with his hands exhausted and sat on the edge of the bed.

It was the last he remembered.

The first thing he found when he returned to the waking world was a haggard Bruce Banner staring down at him and asking him if he was alright. He didn't look overly concerned, more like he was asking out of politeness than of actual worry. All of the actual worry was centred a little to the side of Tony.

Tony turned himself violently to focus on the god who no doubt was laid next to him. He looked better than before, well not really, but he could see the improvement. The most alluring being the air that softly flew through his parted lips even as the pipes whistled. He was healing.

"How long was I out?" he asked Bruce, not turning his attention away from Loki.

"Seven hours."

"Seven hours?" that was a rapid improvement on the gods part, "And you stayed?" Bruce sent him a scalding look.

"I wasn't leaving." Tony felt terrible at just suggesting the action. Their conversation was interrupted by a paltry keen.

Loki's face twisted in pain and his chest lifted from the bed in his discomfort. Tony was quick to put a softly restraining hand there to keep it down. Loki opened his eyes and surveyed the room through a watery red. His eyes landed on Tony and registered something; okay. Alright, fine, whatever you want to call it, his face didn't bring a searing sense of dread in the gods eyes and it elated the inventor. When they landed on Bruce though, they squinted with a keen sense of hatred. Self-hatred. His hands lifted to his face as a hollow rasp escaped his throat in his best attempt at forming coherent words; 'don't look at me.'

They made to leave, but Tony was stopped by a hand weakly bound in the sodden fabric of his shirt. Bruce gave an understanding nod, closing the door behind him. Loki didn't say anything more; he hadn't wanted anything other than to not be left alone.

It was an excruciatingly long 2 days before the wound on the gods side had healed and his trachea was fixed enough to be able to remove the pipes. He only knew this because he had run to the bathroom at the sound of the god screaming. Turned out it was just Loki ripping the pipes out of his lungs with a sickening slide and pop. Gross but, y'know, good. In the long run.

It was another 2 days before he could recognise the normal voice of the trickster float through the penthouse. He was yelling out in old Norse throwing pillows around the room as Tony had reminded him not to break his stuff once a pot went sailing past his head. He was almost completely healed but…

He was still blue.

He lived constantly in only pants. He wanted to cover up the blue skin, but the shirts provided stifling heat and more so tugged at his healing skin.

Tony crossed the distance to the god who had slid to the ground. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

"Do I look okay?" he cries dejectedly, head dropped on his knees and hiding behind crossed arms, a wrecked sob almost working its way out.

"Physically or emotionally?" he joked, because that's what he's best at. He receives a derisive snort for his efforts. "Hey, you're fine, okay?"

"I'm not 'fine'." He spat the words, "I'm a monster."

"You're not-"

"Don't even try it, Stark. Look at me; I'm an ungodly blue with eyes the colour of blood. I emit a chill straight from the bowels of Hel itself. I am a monster."

"Not what I was taught monsters look like." He supplied offhandedly, trying to coerce the god into a more cooperative nature.

"Well it's what I was taught. Along with the entirety of the other realms. People cower in fear at the mention of cold and it is because of what I am; a cold. Blue. Heartless. Monster!" he punctuated the last word by tossing the pillow across the room again.

"I thought we went over this; you have a heart." Tackle one problem at a time.

"I wish someone would rip it out literally instead of metaphorically for once." He lifts his head slightly from the cave of darkness.

"But my point still stands; you have a heart. And creatures that care like that can't be monsters."

"I beg to differ. Many would not think so." One red eye is now visible as he looks forward, avoiding focusing on anything other than the sky outside the window.

"Yeah well, I'm not many. Those who are can shove it up their asses. And as for cold; did you know that most people live where it snows at least once a year. People pay thousands to go stand out it the cold and play in the snow. People also tend to chase after it on boiling hot days." Loki looks sideways at him.

"And what of my being blue?" he asks sourly, making it sound more like he's caught a child stealing than whatever this situation is.

"What?"

"You are trying to rationalise all I have pointed out as a fault, but you cannot. Especially not this… horrid state." He fumes, head sinking back down.

"Blue is hot." Tony says quickly, because it's the first thing he thinks of. It makes Loki's eyes snap back out of their hole to look at him with a strong sense of confusion and probably a dash of questioning of his mental state.

"What?" he echoes the sound Tony had made moments before.

"Blue skin is hot. Have you seen mystique? She had blue skin, although I admit her red hair and yellow eyes is a little off putting; too many primary colours. But you would not believe the amount of men, and a fair share of women, who would want to spend the night with her." Is he rambling? Yes. Does he care? No, not particularly. Loki's eyes flick over his face looking for any trace of a lie, Tony knows he won't find one.

"…Then you humans are more disturbing than I thought." He says finally, lifting his chin up onto his forearms and turning his attention back to the sky.

"Want to hear something more disturbing?" he asks Loki, leaning close conspiringly.

"What?" he acquiesces softly.

"I still think you're hot." Loki's head snaps sideways to watch him and Tony doesn't miss the discolouration of his cheeks, wouldn't miss it for the world. He doesn't move back, revelling in the close proximity to Loki, the way the other swallows shallowly.

"Why are you doing this." His voice is soft and more than a little unsure.

"You started it." He accuses childishly. Loki splutters.

"I- you know I was playing you." The look of utter confusion on his face is adorable.

"Still doesn't change the facts." He's aware he's probably treading on thin ice, what with the way Loki's eyes skipped around and how his mouth and brows pull as though he's in pain. But he doesn't move away, so that's a plus.

He dips his head forward, moving in to Loki, crossing the small distance between them. "I-" Loki starts to protest and he gives pause, stoping his movements for the split second he talks. When the sentence trails off he moves forward again. "…You wont-" again, he falters at the noise momentarily before following forwards, "Don't-" but it's too late by then.

He presses softly into the taller god, hand moving up to rest in his long tresses. Loki doesn't move for a long moment, and it made him open his eyes. He can't see much of the gods face, except for the brows pulled as if the action is harrowing and despairing, eyes clenched shut tight as though he's fighting with himself.

He closes his eyes again and bites at Loki's bottom lip, coaxing the mouth open. It does his biding and his lets his lips slide and lock with the ones under his, tongue tentatively reaching forth. It's cold, he's not gonna lie, but he can't help liking it. It's similar to Loki's normal chill, only more intense, and he wants to dive further and find out more.

He wheedles his tongue further as he feels Loki's arm unwrap from around his knees and ever so cautiously reach up to wrap around his neck, the touch soft, every move lined with hesitation and guarded desire. With a bit more pestering, Loki responds.

It's nothing like the others, the touches they shared when Loki was fully in control, when Loki had everything falling into place and playing out his tune just for amusement. This is completely different, and whilst all the other rendezvous were mutual, this is filled with a different understanding, different intentions. Similar feelings. For while he wasn't opposing to the other meetings, just as he isn't to this one now, he is filled with an apprehension he hasn't known in a long time.

When he pulls away Loki's eyes are still closed, opening only to show a haze of malady; waiting for the punch line. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. Tony knows it won't come, he hasn't planned this out, didn't start this to cause injury, but he can tell the god is thinking he has. He plans his next words carefully, thinking on every angle as to how a simple statement might affect the god.

"You're fine." He says, rubbing his hand up and down the gods back. You're fine. Not you will be fine, which suggests there's something wrong with him, because there isn't. This is what Loki is, and he knows that people always tell each other just to be who they are and others will like them. He doubts Loki's ever been told that. Clearly the same things run through the others head, and he gets one of those small, gentle, heartbreaking smiles in return.

"I still don't believe you." Loki says, but there is no anger in the voice, just a teasing uncertainty, "Blue is not an attractive colour." Tony really needs to get to the bottom of how Loki ended up this way, but it can wait for now. He needs to get Loki feeling better too.

"I'll prove it," he states proudly, "JARVIS, patch me through to Clint."

"Of course, Sir." Loki is looking at him dubiously, but that's fine for now.

"Tony?" Clint's question rolls through the air, "Is something wrong?" it's not harsh like he's expecting him to be bleeding out after Loki's turned on him or something, but rather like he's asking if they need anything; from milk to a medical professional. He also sounds like he'd do anything to get it for them.

"Nah, just got a question." He replies nonchalantly

"Oh, okay." His voice implies he is waiting for the query.

"Is mystique hot?" just the right words. Better than saying 'is blue skin hot?' because then Clint would surely know what was going on, yet this question gives the same results. He receives an amused scoff.

"Yeah, duh. Why?"

"No reason."

"Alright… do you need anything?"

"No we're cool for now." He reaches over for his remote server to end the call.

"Okay, just, make sure he gets better." He really sounds concerned, either that or he is a way better liar than Tony ever believed.

"He can hear you."

"Oh, well… get better soon." Loki's looking so lost, assaulted with people who insist they care even the smallest amount, yet his mind is telling him it's all a horrible trap.

"I- thank you." He stutters out. Tony mutes the connection on this end but leaves it open on Clint's; he knows where this is heading and thinks the avenger might benefit from what is said. If others are with Barton, then it's even better. "Why did he say that?" Loki's voice is shaken, thinking the call is over. Tony will deal with the repercussions. Loki doesn't know what to do with this, everything he knows is conflicting and it shows in his tone.

"Maybe he's giving you a second chance."

"But I don't deserve it" he's shaking his head like it's obvious.

"That isn't your decision; it's his." He stands, sick of sitting against the wall, "Besides, I thought you said you had to do it."

"It doesn't matter why I did it, it only matters that I did." He knows the self-loathing will carry through the transmission, so thickly entwined with every word.

"It's better to euthanize a kitten because it will live a life of pain and suffering than it is to kill a kitten for fun." The topic is morbid, but it makes sense.

"Then why wasn't I euthanized, if only to stop the pain and sufferings of others." Operation; make Loki feel better is definitely not working. Loki had his head buried again.

"Because that's selfish. That's not giving you a chance."

"I've never had a chance, my fate is carved in destiny's stone; pain will be wherever I go, and hate is all that follows."

"Yeah, well, you're bad at your job."

"Clearly." His voice is dry, not believing a word he says.

"I don't hate you." Loki stays silent, mulling over the words. "Maybe you can break that bitches stone yet." He jokes playfully, giving his hand out to offer to help the other up.

"It hasn't worked before." He says, staring out the window, "But if nothing else I am stubborn; perhaps bone headedness shall prevail." With that he looks up at Tony, eyes filled with a seed of hope. He's far too happy he planted it there. He cuts the connection with a swipe of his finger over the screen.

"Come on. How long 'till we can go down and talk about why you got here the way you did."

"When I stop being this." A hand motions to his form in general.

He's sick of arguing so he just asks; "How long will that be?"

"Hopefully by the coming noon; I am still not happy about the prospect of being surrounded by a group of people who would have no qualms in caging me I'll have you know."

"You don't have to stay," he offers, "We just want to know who attacked the city – well, more attacked you, but the point still stands. And the others will have to deal with it because, like it or not, you've stopped the city from being destroyed twice now."

"That's what you think."

"Yeah it is. Why? Had ulterior motives?" he's teasing, not accusing. The tone makes all the difference.

"No, only I believe the number to be greater that two."

"Really?" yes, that is surprise in his voice, "How many times?"

"I'm not telling you."

"How many?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Come on, tell me! How many?"

This continued for an embarrassingly long amount of time.

To his everlasting shame, he didn't get an answer.

They had to wait until noon only because Loki didn't know how fast his magic would return to him. It returned faster than he expected; much faster. Almost an hour after Tony had finished pestering him his magic returned in a wave. Of course, he hadn't been expecting it, so he wasn't trying to hold it back, rather pulling it towards himself. The power surged in and Tony only noticed because the others skin bled from blue to white in less than a second, rushing over his body. The power surge continued when all the lights in the vicinity brightened to an unnatural level before bursting, appliances shuttering to hectic life; and there were a lot of appliances and the pieces of furniture lifted themselves from the floor sharply, rushing towards them from the way the god had been trying to draw energy towards them. This all happened in the same second, incredibly abruptly, and they could hear screams flying through the building. Loki looked momentarily shocked before clenching down on the power and the furniture fell to the floor once again.

Looking around the penthouse Tony noted that everything he owned had gravitated a little too close to them for his liking. He could have been taken out by a flying couch a moment ago. He went to turn back but was stopped by hands on his shoulders and a chest to his back.

"Now that I've returned to a healthy state," Loki spoke as though considering something, "More than healthy, I have a considerable amount of magic at my current dispense, I do believe I have a promise to fulfil." Tony was at a loss. What promise? "I remember requesting my brother not be contacted."

"Hey no!" instant defensive, "He contacted me!"

"Regardless, I gave my word. Now, where is the most valuable item?"

Tony sighed resignedly; "Probably the liquor cabinet; that is filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars of the good stuff." He could always buy more, but some of it was incredibly hard to come by.

"Well then I shall make sure to avoid it." A cryptic response, but he supposes it's the gods way of rewarding him for keeping the thunderer away. His musings are cut short by the muffled sound of an explosion on the lower floors. He briefly wonders which of the avengers that would affect most. He never felt Loki pull away, but suddenly he was being beckoned to the elevator, "Hurry; apparently I have a meeting to attend."

"Sure, whatever topless." He called, strutting past the god whom of which quickly shoved him into the elevator. The doors started closing and Loki was still on the other side. "Hey! Get back-"

"Sorry Stark, I can't hear you!" Loki called playfully over the opening beats of So Good by B.O.B that now filled the space, "I must be presentable; do play nice while I dress." The doors slammed shut and the elevator rocketed down to through the floors.

"What exploded?" he asked upon exiting the elevator, only to find the music flowed just as loudly down here and had to repeat the question in a yell.

"I…a..ap…tr…ng..ym" Natasha yelled across the room as Clint was laughing and dancing just to be an asshole.

"What?"

"It..as…apta…tr..ing..ym" She yelled louder and moved closer

"What?"

"IT...AS..APTA..TR..ING…YM!" louder and closer again

"What?"

"IT WAS CAPTAINS TRAINING GYM!" she yelled incredibly loudly as the song ended, changing into the starting beats of Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5. Clint laughed harder before continuing to dance like an ass, mouthing the words and putting his hands over his heart and whatnot. He put on a fake serious expression as he started whipping his head and hips around exaggeratedly, every move causing Natasha to roll her eyes.

"Captains gym?" he asked, Natasha could probably tell what he was saying by reading his lips. Of course it was the captains gym, Steve and Loki practically hated each other. Not even practically; they did. Well at least Steve hated Loki, Loki probably just thought it was funny.

She replied with what looked like 'yeah, the fourth time was a ringer', or maybe it was 'the face was his elbow'. Neither of those made any sense, and his confusion probably showed on his face. Natasha had to actually yell at his ear for him to be able to get certain words such as 'force' and 'window'. What the hell? Oh, of course. He understood now.

The force threw him out the window.

Absently he wondered if Loki had something against windows as Clint mimed Steve flying out the window and laughed.

~~~~~PARTY TONIGHT PAGEBREAK~~~~~

Oops, got a bit carried away and decided I'd better stop it there. I had more to write but then I realised the chapter would be super long.

It's a bipolar chapter as is anyway; it didn't need more.

Leave your thoughts in a comment/review/whatevar

I love hearing from you guys! I would love to have some suggestions as to what could happen prank wise – even as the plot progresses, I want more funnies, and I'm sure you guys can come up with some I can work into the story : )

Stay tuned and stay awesome


	12. Chapter 12

Holidays have begun! YIIIS!

I'll write when I can, between study and arting and working and friending… yeah.

As always thankyou so much for your kind words! I love you all!

Well anyways; enjoy!

~~~~~HOLIDAY PAGEBERAK~~~~~

Loki came down after another song, but in the meantime Clint had found a pad and paper and they used it to talk to one another instead of trying to shout over the music.

'What happened?' Clint wrote

'What do u mean?' he asked back, using shorthand because, hey; he's lazy.

'I was sittin on the couch and it went flying'

'L got his magic back'

'I just rolled off the couch b4 it slammed into the roof'

'Sry'

'Wz funny. Stv hit his head coz he's slow lol.' They shared laughs over the paper as Loki entered the room. And by entered he meant materialised right next to them, pointed at the last line and let out a large laugh that probably would have rolled off the walls if it wasn't for the music still playing.

As it was Steve was finding his way out of the elevator, plaster covering his body; no doubt the remains of his gym. He instantly started yelling, but they couldn't hear him.

Loki reclined using his elbows to support himself between Clint and Tony in what was probably an odd display of casualty if the looks garnered by Bruce and Natasha were anything to go by. Steve was still yelling.

Thor entered the room, the only one who hadn't been there, and instantly crossed to Steve, trying to find out what was wrong. They ended up yelling at each other; Steve letting out his frustrations about Loki and Thor trying to figure out what Steve was saying. They continued on that way for some time.

Loki, who'd had enough, caught the others' attentions as he waved an arm in the air in a pointing motion towards one of the far walls. It was odd because nothing was there – just a plain wall. He walked up to it and pulled something out of his pocket. Loki then proceeded to start drawing on the wall, and Tony's cry of disapproval was swallowed by the beats.

Once he was finished he had everyone's attention bar Thor and Steve who were getting nowhere with their interaction. So basically all of the wall was covered with different pictures. There were 12 and they were all remarkably easy to discern – probably because the pictures were verging on photorealistic.

The main image was that of a man and a woman whom they'd never seen before. A little to the left and down was a picture of Loki. Off to the right and up of the man and woman was a fight scene, and below that a pair of binoculars. Directly across from that and above the picture of Loki was a city scape. Far off on the right was a sad face and above that a large crowd. Near the bottom of the wall was a crown and a no sign – the same seen on no smoking signs. Up in the top left was an image of the earth and in the rightmost bottom corner a question mark. Taking up a decent portion of the left side was an image of all the avengers.

Cool mural; now what?

Loki started pointing at the images.

Girl and man. Fight. City. Okay, so the girl and guy wanted to fight the city.

Loki. Binocular. Girl and man. What? Oh, ok. Loki saw them.

Loki. Fight. Girl and man. Loki. Sad face. He kind of looked like he was teaching a class. Loki fought the people and got hurt. Duh, already knew that much.

Girl and man. Crown. Earth. Girl and man. Binocular. Crowd. Crown. Earth. Okay, so those two jokers want to take over the world but they need an army to do so.

Loki. No sign. Girl and man. Loki's going to stop the two.

Avengers. No sign. Girl and man. Question mark. He wanted to know if they were going to stop them too.

Tony looked to Natasha, Clint and Bruce; Steve and Thor were still arguing. They had a somewhat silent conversation because, hey, they still wouldn't even be able to hear each other. Loki was still standing there when they finished and they gave a nod, to which Loki responded with an exaggerated thumbs up before disappearing.

Must of taken it pretty literally when Tony had said he didn't have to stay.

When he left the music came to an abrupt stop leaving Thor and Steve's overlapping roars to fill the space.

It took a while to calm them down, but at least explaining the situation was easy – they just had to recite the moves Loki had shown them; or better yet, explain with the visual cues so kindly left behind.

When they went into the room the next morning the pictures were still there, but they all had moustaches painted across their faces and there was a small signature just below it. It read "Loki'd".

There was an ever present air of caution over the next few days, but the constant new appearances of "Loki'd" over many household items that had been tampered with lightened the mood. All the jokes were hilarious, Tony thought, until he ended up on the ground with a piece of paper floating down onto his lap when he'd tried to sit on a bar stool. The others found it highly amusing make no mistake, especially when he stared dumbly at the cursive Loki'd on the paper in his hands.

It became somewhat of a thing in the household; excluding Steve of course – but only because the super soldier didn't want to join in. Pranks were put into play and they would yell Loki'd when it was completed. Loki himself seemed to have no qualms; they'd tried to do the same thing with their own names but Tony'd and Clint'd didn't sound as good. Not to mention the disaster that was Natasha'd.

The fourth day after Loki's leave they woke up to a completely green building. On the outside, of course, so they didn't notice until after 3. They only went outside because an unusually large amount of people were photographing the building – more than usual. The entire exterior of the building was bright green, the cursive Loki'd plastered across it in large black letters. It took them a week and multiple crews hired 24/7 and help from the avengers to get the building back to its original colours. By that time Loki'd was an international phrase; people using it constantly.

The day after they finished re-painting the building Loki appeared again to the public eye. Of course, Tony was there; it was a promotional fair – like he wasn't going to be there, he was the only one of avengers that's public identity was revealed and was therefore the only one who could go out without his suit and be representative of the team.

All there was to announce his presence was a tinkering of music before all cameras swung in his direction. All that could be seen of him were his distinctive boots as he walked on the landing above, that shot alone being projected over all the screens in the area. The camera's followed the movement of his feet as he walked down the stairs, his body coming more into view the further he went. Tony rolled his eyes at the attention hog – the scene could have come from a movie or a music video, full of swag and completely his style. Still, apart from that aversion he kept his eyes on the god. His neck and back twisted to follow Loki as the god came closer and walked past him in a show of confidence. People were following the tricksters movements as he brushed past so close Loki's shoulder scraped along Tony's back, followed by a sly wink before he continued on and Tony was left just having turned in a complete circle and watching the other dumbly. It was surreal and seemed as if it were all moving in slow motion, but that could just be the way his heart was fluttering. Screw Loki; he was back to being the god who'd been playing him two weeks ago.

"I just wanted you all to know," Loki started as he finished walking and commandeered everyone's attention, "I patented the use of 'Loki'd'." he held up the patent to prove his point.

The crowd released a voluminous set of multiple cries all either amused or supportive. Suddenly he was surrounded by people who were wondering what the avengers reaction would be.

"Well at least we got that off the building yesterday." He said by way of joking avoidance.

"I thought I'd give you the chance." Loki spoke close, an arm resting on his bicep and practically talking to his ear, the gods other hand resting on his other arm. "Of course, I condone the public use of it." He spoke louder, stepping backwards. Immediately Tony knew what would happen; Loki would disappear and he'd be stuck here forced to answer the media's questions with no hope of escape.

So, of course, he did the natural thing and tried to ground Loki by grabbing onto him.

Bad idea.

Bad Mother Fucking Idea.

Because it had felt like he was on fire and being covered in ice at the same time. It felt like he was being stretched and compressed simultaneously. It felt like everything and nothing.

The next thing he knew he had a face full of dirt. No wonder; he was face first in the ground. He hoisted himself up and watched Loki pick himself up from the ground a little ways away. He took in his surroundings and found he must have been somewhere in Central Park, albeit a rather deserted part, what with the skyscrapers peeking out above the trees on the horizon. He still felt weird, like he was being squeezed and the only space he could go was up or down; compressed and stretched.

"Why the hell do I feel like I'm being squeezed?" he asked frustrated as he settled his eyes back on the god. Loki regarded him with an expression that looked like he was trying his hardest not to smile, which finally gave way to a deep chuckle progressing into hearty laughter. He bent forward and lent his hands on his denim clad knees – hang on; denim clad? "Are you wearing my clothes?" Loki, still laughing only nodded and waved a hand in his direction. "Then what the hell am I-" he looked down and saw his frame covered in leather; blacks and greens and golds. "What the hell man! Why'd you take my clothes?" Loki was still laughing, probably because he looked hilarious in garments too tight and too long for him.

"This is your own fault." Loki said as he started to straighten himself, still struggling not to laugh, making his sentence come out through huffs of amusement.

"How is it my fault?" He asked, wondering why the hell the other looked fine in the baggy clothing while he looked like an idiot.

"You decided to come along."

"You were gonna leave me to the media hoards!"

"So naturally, you decided just hanging on would be the best option. Luckily, this is all that happened. It could have been much worse. Next time you wanna lift; give me a heads up."

"Well I didn't know! Just, gimme my clothes back!" he screamed petulantly, throwing his hands out to the gods new attire. Loki again pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing.

"If you want them back you have to get out of my clothes first."

"Fine!" He said, immediately grappling at the pieces of leather, struggling with every attempt.

"There's seven layers there; you're going to need help."

"I can do it myself!"

"Fine." Loki leant back on a tree and dusted imaginary dirt off his arm, looked around and just generally did nothing helpful. In the meantime Tony pulled and clawed at the clothing he was confined in, but the fact that it was too small for him made it hard to move, and the excess length on the sleeves wasn't helping either. After an embarrassing ten minutes and no progress made he relented; "Okay, a little help?" he asked

"I'm sorry, what?" Loki asked, as though he had completely forgotten the situation, although a twinkle in his eyes told otherwise, "Help with what?"

"This." Tony made a vague gesture in the space the outfit granted him, churning out the word; he didn't want to ask for help, but it couldn't be avoided in this situation.

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about." Tony let out a huge breath of air.

"You're gonna make me say it aren't you?" he asked the trickster and received only raised eyebrows in response. Another large exhale, "Can you help me out of these clothes?" he ground out

"Mr Stark," Loki began, taking a step forward, "It sounds like you're asking me to undress you?" he asked for confirmation. Dick head.

"Yes."

"I'm sure in any other situation that would be considered inappropriate, but given the circumstance, I'll gladly appease." By now Loki was right in front of him and had the sharpest smile slipped over his too sharp teeth.

"Yes, yes. Quickly now, so we can get to the part where you take off your clothes." He said playing along, a dark chuckle floating to his ears as Loki reached up and took a hold of the collar. He hadn't been wearing the shoulder plate today, so that didn't need to come off, which was a plus. Loki hoisted the top garment up before sliding it down his arms, walking around to Tony's back for better access. As soon as it was gone he felt as though a huge weight had been lifted; of course, he just took off what basically surmounted to a thick leather trench coat, albeit without sleeves. So a trench vest. Whatever. He raised his arms as Loki pulled them, watching as experienced fingers toggled clasps and the vambraces fell to the ground simultaneously. Next Loki's hands skirted up and down his sides, flipping up sections of the crossed pattern from just under his arms to his hips. Not gonna lie; it tickled. Once they were unhatched Loki reached around and grabbed the bottom of it, encasing him in a hug before lifting it like a shirt. The chest plate was next to go; the heavy plate to which the golden necklace thing was embedded. He was shocked to find that this only covered the chest and not the abdomen, which was good because it allowed movement. It did, however, have a multitude of straps which followed down and wrapped around the stomach muscles; all of which had to be turned and pressed in a specific way, meaning that Loki had to come flush against his back to see over his shoulder. Goddammit it was like the workshop all over again and his already straining breath became harsher because of the actions. But unlike then, Loki didn't seem to have any alternate directions and unclasped them before again lifting it over his head. The section underneath this was green and, Tony figured, the part that showed through on his chest beneath the upper layers. It looked solid to the eye, but was soft and flexible to touch; he wondered what it was made of; it felt like leather again, but he knew it wasn't. It looked simple enough at first, but he soon noted that it was long sleeved and that the wrappings which flowed underneath whatever was left of the vambraces looked complicated. Again, Loki slapped his arms up, and he felt like he was in a tailors shop. The leather buffers were held on by more clasps, ones covered and hidden, and a hell of a lot of them too by the looks of it, but Loki undid them with ease again, unwrapping them from his arm and dropping them to the ground. Once these were gone he saw that the green wrapping made it down to his elbows. The trickster unhooked something and unravelled the fabric like a ball of twine, leaving a long sash on both of his arms before it was lifted off his head. He caught sight of Loki's face again (finally) when he was doing the unravelling, and it looked serene; he was completely engrossed by this task, not because it was complex, but because it was familiar. His face was blank and the touch was gentle; Tony noted after seeing this that none of the touches were meant to be teasing or intimate, no matter how they had seemed. Loki was just doing it, no alternate motives or anything. At the next layer Loki came around to his front and ran his hands down Tony's chest, pulling down two concealed zippers which allowed a flap to fall forward and a row of buckles from his collar to pelvis be exposed. The god began undoing the clasps quickly; not in a rush, just a speed obtained through knowledge and repetition. They snapped off one by one as the gods hands slipped lower. Loki clearly wasn't concerned with what was going on around him because the next moment he sunk onto one knee to become more level with the remaining buckles. Well… this just became sufficiently awkward. For him at least; Loki still didn't seem to notice he was kneeling in front of one of the people he'd ordered the same of months ago. Tony bit his lip as he watched, Loki not even paying attention. The last five clips took the longest by far, he's sure, and the last one especially gets a little too close for comfort, if you know what he means. Finally, he thinks as the last buckle snaps off, finally he can get out of this one sided awkward situation. But no, because nothing ever happens his way. From the same position Loki slaps his legs apart because, apparently, there are clips on the insides of his thighs which are holding more of that weird leather-like fabric to his flank. Never, ever, ever, ever, EVER had he been in a more awkward situation, he thought as he tried to quell the rising arousal and squash it into oblivion. Not easy when source of said arousal is on his knees in front of you and his hands are roaming over you like they have been for the past ten minutes. He realises he's holding his breath as Loki's arms loop around his legs to unfasten the final buckle and pull it loose, dropping it to the ground. He tries to let the breath go subtly, lest he break Loki's concentration and the god realises the situation they are now in; even more awkward than before. And then the god rises from his one knee and pulls the dark, vest like garment off and lets it join the rest of the clothing. The layer which shows itself next is the one that wraps around his neck when he's wearing the whole lot; a black cloth with gold embedded in circles along the edges. He thinks he could probably take this layer off himself and end this prolonged contact, but then he sees the string that wraps down his front in some sort of pattern and he realises; no, he can't. Loki, however, makes quick work of it and tugs it over Tony's head as soon as he deems the straps loose enough.

This leaves Tony in the leather pants, boots and a thin t-shirt made out a fabric that feels like heaven against his skin. Loki steps away and gives him a smile, you know the one; the one you give when you look across a room, see someone looking at you and just smile. Yeah, it's one of those, and it's way too good on the gods face.

"The boots," Loki begins, pointing down at them, "Have strap clasps, sort of like the ones you find on ice skates and such. I trust you can get out of them and the rest." He gives a non-committal gesture.

"Uh-" he says, because it's been a long time since he last ice skated, and his brain wasn't functioning properly when Loki had spoken. He lifts a foot and examines the clasp, before hooking a finger under it and flicking it forwards with a sharp click, "Yep." And he throws the trickster one of his mega-watt grins that never failed to impress the crowds. Only Loki isn't a crowd and just rolls his eyes and begins to take off the ACDC shirt which by all rights should have been on Tony's shoulders.

He can't help it if he's a little slow taking off the remainder of the clothing; hell, there's a god stripping in front of him, and it's not like he hasn't seen Loki without a shirt before, only now it's less mangled and less blue and he has the chance to see just how ripped the god is. There is a fair sight more muscle than he expected – not that he'd thought about it before or anything.

He ripped his eyes away and quickly threw the clothes he donned to the ground not wanting to be caught ogling the other. He only looked up when he heard more laughter.

"You want your underwear back?" Loki asked through the fit of giggles.

"No way man. You can just keep 'em." He called out. No he did not want to wear underwear Loki was wearing. He didn't. Honest.

"Whatever, you're already wearing mine." At this he considered asking for his underwear back, but either way he'd be in the same position, wearing underwear that someone else had worn. He was sorely tempted to go commando, if it wasn't for the fact he was in a public space and didn't want to do a strip for a moment in case any nice officers walked past. This was an awkward enough scenario to explain anyway.

When they were both more-or-less undressed, expect for the swapped underwear they threw the clothing at each other. Tony received his easy enough, in one throw of a large amount of cloth, but then he was at a loss as to which garments he was supposed to toss to Loki.

"Just, how about you start with the pants, genius." Loki ordered after a couple of minutes pointing at the pieces but Tony being to consumed in dressing himself and being confused by the sheer amount of options to actually get anything done.

He chucked the pants at the god who caught them easily and began dressing. "Hope I didn't stretch them on you." He spoke amusedly, watching as the god clips the boots into place.

"This is not the leather of your realm – it is custom fitted to my body and always shall be. If I were to outgrow it I would have to get new clothing, not hope it stretched out to fit my size. Neither could I acquire larger clothes in the hopes I would 'fill it out'." He stuck his hands in the pockets to make sure they laid out flat – nothing more annoying that twisted pockets. "Black shirt." He prompted, and Tony found it and tossed it as quickly as possible, watching as Loki shrugged it over his shoulders. "The one with the collar," he said as he held his arm out, voice not as curt as it could be – it sounded softer, like when he asks for Pepper to pass him a screwdriver. He pulls that on and loops the string quickly, pulling in taught. "Zipper and buckles," he says, making a zipping motion with his hands. When he gets it the buckles snap up quickly, from bottom to top. Tony goes to hand him the green shirt, coz he's fairly sure that comes next. "No, I need the leg-loop-buckly-thing," he corrects, hands trying to draw out the shape and motion towards it in some way. It looks like hell to get on, because he twists his back around to he can get to the hook things at the back and then has to go up the buckles at his thighs before moving down to wrap the heels under the back of the boots. "Okay, now the green," it's odd to watch the god so disarmed and doing something so menial as getting dressed, especially in such odd clothes, like now when he wraps his arms quickly in the green cloth and then pulls on the leather braces for under the vambraces. Tony throws the next item before he can ask for it; the chest plate. He also throws it before the god looks up and for a shocking moment he thinks it's going to connect with his head. But as if; the god caught Clint's arrow while flying through the air, and he caught the garment with the same ease. Loki pulls that on and does up the latches as Tony tosses the golden armour to his feet. Picking them up he strapped them on quickly too, as Tony hoists the final two pieces; the cross piece and the trench vest thing. Loki takes the hatched garment from his hands and does it up, albeit it takes a moment because there are so many clasps.

It's was second nature when Tony found himself behind the god helping him shrug on the coat, something left over from all the dates he's been on with women; giving them a jacket to keep them warm or something, and it's reflected into this situation. He realises halfway through the action, but tries to keep his movements steady to avoid any mishaps or tangling in the cloth which would no doubt end clumsily. Loki looped his arms through the holes with what also looks like no second thought, which is great and he thinks; 'Well shit, I avoided a mess there' in a mostly grateful tone. Because some part of him wanted to know what Loki would have done if he'd noticed how Tony had been feeling.

He patted the gods arm and makes to step away and put distance between them, but his attempts are thwarted when Loki grasps his wrist tightly, not so much it hurt, but enough to know there was no escaping the grip. Suddenly all he can see is the black of hair and cloth, and the skin pale in contrast; his chest is hitting the gods in front of him and fuck, Loki's back in his element. He couldn't help but like it. He was rigid, not daring to move a muscle as Loki tilted his head down to talk in Tony's ear; "Don't think I didn't notice." Deep and chilling as a hand ghosts across his crotch and dammit he really, REALLY likes it.

And then he's gone and Tony's left alone in the middle of Central Park with his 'parting gift'.

"Fucking tease." He breathes into the air as he tries to calm himself down.

~~~~~HOLIDAY PAGEBERAK~~~~~

Lol, I didn't know what to do after they teleported and this just came out, so whatever.

Don't know if it's even worth posting, but you get it anyway

Leave your thoughts in a comment/review/whatevar

Stay tuned and stay awesome

P.S. I patented Loki'd for you vsama… sorry if it sucked…


	13. Chapter 13

A Giant thanks and all my love to all of you who follow/review/enjoy! Hope I can continue to please!

Here we go again…

~~~~~PAGEBREAK HERE~~~~~

"Where have you been?" Natasha asked as he walked off the elevator, all of them sitting in the communal lounge and, apparently, waiting for him. Because of course they were watching the reports on the fair to make sure he behaved, which would mean that they saw the way they (being him and Loki) disappeared.

"Did Loki strip you down and have his way with you?" Clint teased, but it was oh so close to the mark that he could feel his neck heating up and hoped to whatever deity that was listening that it didn't show itself in a bright red. The ignored them in favour of Thor.

"Hey, what happens when you teleport with someone who wasn't expecting it?" he asks, because it all seemed to be working out a little too well in Loki's favour if you asked him.

"Many things can happen, Man of Iron," the god replies and taps (and by taps he mean smacks) him on the back with a giant hand, almost throwing him off the breakfast bar stool he'd just sat on, "People can appear at the other end in one another's minds or as a smudge of bone and flesh on the ground! Often it will throw the sorcerer off and the pair can land halfway through a wall!" Well that sounds decidedly horrible.

"Can there ever be; y'know, no side effects?"

"No." he said with confidence, "It is like starting an obstacle course without knowing you have something of unknown shape or size attached to you and proceeding at alarming speeds. There will always be consequences. Stronger sorcerers can halt the journey partway through and save the travellers from the worst of the damage, but this would be extremely taxing." He spoke with a gigantic smile like this wasn't the horrifying topic it was, "One time, for I have done this many times, I appeared at the other end with an extra eye here," he pointed to his left cheek, "and an extra leg here," he pointed to his right side, "It was useless apart from the ability to kick while standing!" he laughed heartily, "Loki, who was the one teleporting, arrived at the other end with the ears and tail of a cat! It was most amusing, for his ears flattened and tail flicked from the ground! He was exhausted and we had to lay there for hours before he had enough magic back to fix us! Oh heavens, mothers face when I told her of what had transpired!" he guffawed in his amusement, and Clint followed, a hand over his mouth to try and quell the noise while Natasha giggled next to him. "She wanted to see Loki in that state and had the courts sorcerer change him back so she could! She thought him most 'adorable'! It was at that point which I learnt he also had the teeth of a cat as he bit me when I tried to pet him as a joke!"

"Okay great," Tony said past his laughter, suddenly feeling very lucky that all that happened to him was a wardrobe change. He could see the gentle smile on Bruce's face which told of amusement, and Tony could see that the doctor had softened to the god after seeing him in the state he was a few weeks ago. He stood up and made to walk away, but Thor halted his progress.

"Man or Iron, you could only ask me this question for one reason; did you travel with Loki without his knowledge?"

Busted.

"You did! Tell us, what transpired you both?" Thor grabbed at his arm and pulled him back to the centre of what seemed to be a circle forming around him.

"Nothing, nothing much. We just ended up face down in Central Park." He muttered, trying to slip away.

"Thor just said that something always happens," Natasha pushed, "Is he in your head or something?"

"No! Nothing of note happened!" he tried to assure them, but he could feel the heat on his face and his eyes (the traitors they are) flicked to Clint in the memory of how close he had guessed.

Too bad Clint noticed.

"Oh My God! I was right! You tota-"

"No! God Clint!" everyone stared at him, waiting for his reply, "Fine! Fine okay, I'll pay a quarter of your guess Clint, but _only_ because of alternate reasons." Clint made to speak but Tony cut over the top, "No- shut up Clint. It just…" he took in a large gulp of air – there was no way he was getting out of this embarrassment, "We switched clothes in the teleport okay? I had to get my clothes back somehow."

Thor frowned before speaking, "That must have been uncomfortable; my brothers waist would have been at your hips; the leather-"

"Yeah, I know Thor; custom fit super leather that doesn't stretch. Thanks for the input; it was uncomfortable okay?" he pushed past the circle and made his way towards the hall, only making it a few steps before Thor spoke again.

"How did you fare in getting out of them? Surely it was troubling; your people do not have such methods, and yet you are back at this tower faster than I would have assumed."

"I'm a genius remember?" he said, but he knew Clint would have something to say about it.

"He really did strip you didn't he?" he asked softly and damn Tony's skin, it flushed bright red; he thought he'd lost that ability years ago, "He really did strip you!" he called again louder, voice filled with mirth.

"Shut up" Tony shoved his arm hard.

"Tony Stark; stripped by the gods! Damn that should go on your resume!"

"Yeah, only I don't need a resume; I work for myself!" a weak response, but it was enough to give him time to retreat into the many hallways and away from his team mates' laughter.

"Tony Stark," he almost jumped out of his skin at Thor's voice next to him; how had the blundering god followed him? "Could you, perhaps, still be wearing something of my brothers?" he asked as he walked next to him. How the hell did the fucker know!

"Dammit Thor! I didn't wanna strip down completely in the park! Fuck! Yes, I'm wearing his underwear, now if you don't mind I'm gonna go change it!" Thor is quiet for a good moment as Tony continues to stomp through the halls.

"Surprisingly, that is not what I meant." Oh, whoops. Thor grabs his wrist and brings it to his attention; there is a silver band wrapped around it with runes on it, "This is my brothers; be sure you give it to him when he you see him next. I am surprised he still wears it, but I am glad."

"Fine." He huffs and keeps walking. Annoyingly, Thor follows.

"My brother likes you Anthony." He says and Tony just clenches his jaw.

"Really? What you been having secret rendezvous with him?" he asks bitingly

"No, but you have." Tony falls quiet, no matter how much he wants to argue. "He is playing with you; therefore he likes you." Thor adds.

"Yeah well, whatever. Are you going to warn me to stay away from your brother or something?" he asks tiredly, wanting the conversation to end. Thor just laughs.

"No! Heavens no. If his intentions were such I would sooner warn you. No, Tony Stark, my brother enjoys toying with you."

"Are you sure, coz he's weirdly sexual about it," he says with determination, and then with confusion; "And why would you warn me? Playboy remember?"

"I will admit; it is odd behaviour on Loki's part. But if such things were his intention he would already have you; he is more deviant than you, I assure, he has had millennia to perfect it and can 'smooth talk', is how I think you mortals say, his way anywhere." And Thor clasps him on the shoulder tightly, rooting him to the spot, "If anyone could defeat whatever is left of your honour, it is him." He receives a solid clap on his shoulder that almost sends him to his knees, "But he hasn't, so you should be safe!" he laughs with mocking cheer and then bounds down the opposite end of the hallway, leaving Tony outside his door.

"Woo me." He says with faux enthusiasm as he kicks open his door and then slams it shut on the world.

The next couple of days he is met with questions like; 'Enjoy yourself?', 'I don't suppose Loki had to take of his clothes too?' and 'Did he look good?' all in the same mocking tone. The most annoying though, was probably the disapproving heated glares from Steve Rogers who refused to see the humour in the situation no matter who tried to convince him it was funny.

By the third day he'd taken to answering them in a joking manner, which made everyone laugh and he felt so much less embarrassed. Their questions were answered with thinks like; 'Exceptionally', 'You better believe it' and 'You have no idea'. These comments just made the glares from Rogers all the more potent.

Four days later his walk through the halls was interrupted by incredibly loud laughing from Clint's room. He spared the door a glance but continued to the kitchen/ lounge area where the rest of the team appeared to be.

"So Clint's having a giggle fest with Natasha." He said to Thor, Bruce and Steve, noting the red head wasn't there and that's who had to be who Clint was talking to.

"No he's not." He heard and turned to see Natasha rise from grabbing one of the bowls under the bench. She had a genuinely confused look on his face and he knows she couldn't have moved that fast, because the bench has been in his sight the entire time.

They spared each other questioning glances before making their way back down the hall. Clint's laughter could still be heard rebounding off the walls and so they sneaked closer, hoping to grab a glimpse of which ever mystery girl he'd brought home instead of asking Tasha out _again_.

They twisted the handle, easing the door open and…

They all tumble through in surprise at what they were seeing, all scrabbling to get a better look making the door fly open and having them all burst into the room.

Clint was cross legged on one end of the bed, having an terrible time breathing through his laughter while Loki sat cross legged up the other end of the bed, one hand resting over his heart and the other motioning to the air, a fake serious expression on his face as he no doubt re-enacted something and finished his sentence "…as long as we both shall live." They both turned to face the intruders and Clint almost fell of the bed in a new fit of giggles, if it weren't for Loki reaching forward and pulling him up.

Tony most definitely did not feel his chest tightening and did not taste bitter in his mouth.

Clint pointed at them, although it soon became obvious he was pointing at Thor, with tears streaming down his cheeks; "You bahahah, Married hahaha, Thrym, god hahahaha, For your HAMMER! AHAHA!" he pummelled the bed with his fist in an attempt to convey the humour.

"Brother!" Thor roared, hammer extended and moving closer. Loki immediately shot off the bed to stand on the floor, "You tell such tales?" his face was a soft red.

"No, brother. I am merely recounting memories." He spread his arms wide, palms up in a show of innocence.

"Thor cross-dressed to marry a man-giant for his HAMMER!" Clint cried over the top again and as troubling as the situation was, it was amusing to think of.

"Did you then, Brother, recount how you made such a fair maiden also?" Thor asked, trying to redirect some of the humiliation. "How you're slighter frame and hair made you appear a babe?"

"I did indeed. Best not leave out anything eh? I made a much fairer maiden than you, so much fairer that he almost abandoned his marriage to you to chase after me! And that was before I learnt how to shift."

"You are proud that you made a decent woman?"

"Prouder than I would have been to be the woman you made; hideous! Never before had I seen a woman with a squarer jaw or the most unsightly shape! You are lucky the giant was magicked to fall for you or you would never have gotten that hammer, which is still mine by the way, back."

"It is not your hammer!"

"I believe it is."

"It is not!"

"It is."

"Why would it be Loki's?" Bruce asked

"I had it forged," Loki explains, "By the dwarves in the heart of a dying star. When I brought it home Odin took it and gave it to my brother."

"And so it is mine!"

"No, it is mine. But I shall continue to let you _borrow_ it because I have no need for such a blunt object whose user need require no skill."

Suddenly, there is the crack of a pistol firing and everyone jumps, bar the two gods. Loki just looks mildly affronted. Said god lifts his hand to his chest and rubs at the spot the bullet must of hit, turning his head to Steve; "Ow?" he says, although it's more a question as to why the Captain would do that and whether or not it was supposed to do something.

"Why the hell would you do that!" he surprises himself by yelling at the Captain with such force and slapping the gun out of his hand. Loki smiles at him though, so it's worth it.

"Yeah, what the shit man!" Clint backs him up, "He was just telling a story!"

"He's the bad guy okay!" Steve yells, "Thor, I get that he's your brother, but he's evil and you two!" he points between Tony and Clint, "Should know better! I don't care what you say; he is EVIL!"

"… As far as I know, the last thing I did regarding any of you was-"

"Strip Tony." Clint interrupts

"Well yes, but before that, the last thing I did was provide your team with information on the forces opposing this city." He steps forward, and though he does nothing more it seems intimidating. And sexy, but Tony's sure it's only him who thinks that. "And before that, saved it."

"Twice." Tony cuts in.

"I don't care." Steve growls, "You may have them fooled, but not me; you are the bad guy and you need to be detained." With that the super soldier launches forward and reaches for the god. He misses though, as Loki flits across the room.

"Well I never," he mocks, "Such ride behaviour from the countries patriot." He flits across the room again before Steve can catch him. The others just stand and watch. "Well," Loki says from his new spot, "I suppose I'll see you later, when your super soldier has decided to," he flits, "Calm himself down." Steve lets out a large bellow and charges, but Loki disappears again.

For good this time.

"Way to go, asshole." Clint says and flops down on his bed facing the ceiling. "ehehe, Thor in a dress, pffff" he lets out soft laughter as the rest of the team leave the room, Thor dragging Steve out. Tony's the only one left and he has his arms crossed over his chest. Clint lifts his head and says simply; "Jealous?"

"No." Tony replies and makes his leave quickly.

And yeah, maybe he is, a little, but he always wants to be the centre of attention so that's normal. Right? Yes, definitely right. He wants to be the centre of attention for everything, that just also happens to correlate to wanting to be the centre of Loki's attention. No it doesn't. He does not want to be the centre of Loki's attention.

He doesn't.

Until Loki shows up in his workshop the following day and he finds he really, really wants to be the centre of the gods attention. This is why the first line out of his mouth is; "Why were you hanging out with Clint?" Loki looks momentarily confused from his spot sitting on the edge of the desk as Tony walks towards him.

"Barton? Why would-" and here his expression changes and that damned smirk slides across his face, "Are you jealous?"

"No." Tony says as he comes to stand in front of him. Loki reaches forward and grabs his wrist, pulling the bracelet of and placing it back on his own arm. "What's with the bracelet."

"Thor gave it to me when I was young; he made it for me." Clearly Loki cares for his brother; just one of the many things Tony's getting to know about the god, "So you're not jealous?" he asks again, clearly enjoying that conversation more and letting Tony's hand fall. It just so happens that it lands on his knee and Tony doesn't move it.

"No."

"So if I were to go talk to Barton now, you wouldn't mind in the slightest?" There is a teasing edge to his voice and he looks ready to get up and go, so Tony moves closer.

"No." he says, despite his movements., he's sticking with the answer.

"Not in the slightest?" he raises his brows as his hands come out to rest on his hips and he's gently coerced forwards. But Tony's always been so bad at saying no.

"Yes." He says finally, stepping forward and squashing the small distance left between them, coming to a stop between Loki's legs. Loki has the biggest shit-eating grin on his face as his fingers fan up Tony's hips, sending shivers across his skin. Tony moves his hands to mirror the position.

"Really?" Loki says softly, breath gushing over his face in cool waves, and then; "I'm disinclined to believe you." Turning his head away and scooting back on the table.

He knows he shocked Loki with his next move, because the god freezes for a moment, he feels the way he stills under his lips. Clearly Loki didn't think he'd take the initiative, but he has and he keeps pushing his lips to those under his until the others soften and reply, open and pry his own to do the same.

He doesn't know anymore, what Loki's doing. He thought before Loki liked him, then Loki said he was playing him, but then it kept going and he thought; hey maybe he does like me and it sent weird jolts through his body that didn't come the first time he'd thought it. But then Thor insists he's just playing with him; but what would be the purpose?

He can't think of one.

And so when they come up for air and Loki's hands are once again on his hips (good, he thinks absently) he lets his mouth run unhindered and does the only thing he thinks will confirm or deny anything; he asks him out.

"Let's have dinner." He says and watches the way Loki's brow furrows.

"You would… want to have dinner? With me?" He asks, sounding like he can't for the life of him figure out why. "Why?"

"I dunno," he suddenly feels sheepish and his voice conveys this, "for fun, like a date, or, y'know friends or whatever." He avoids eye contact when he says it. He never normally has this much trouble talking to someone he likes. Then again, he never normally asks people on dates.

"If it's a date," Loki speaks with confidence, his back straightening, "Then yes. None of this 'friends of whatever'." He smacks his arm lightly before hooking a finger under Tony's chin and lifting it so he can kiss him.

"Really?" Tony asks when they break apart and Loki's legs hook around his won and pull him closer until they're flush.

"Only if it's nice." He teases, biting at the earlobe before pulling away and giving a small smile.

"Why were you hanging out with Clint anyway?" he asks after a few minutes, because Loki is still sitting on the desk and he's tapping away on the computer trying to figure out where he wants to book.

"I was telling him stories." He says flippantly, more interested in watching the screen Tony's manipulating.

"Why don't you tell me stories?" he asks just as flippantly and Loki flicks his eyes to his face with a smirk.

"Because I always end up doing something else." He says wickedly, making Tony think back on all their encounters; even back when they were fighting they'd been flirting.

"Yeah, I can see that." He drags his attention back to the screen. "Aha! Perfect!" he exclaims, making the booking for the next day. Loki makes to look at the display, but he closes it quickly.

"What am I to wear?" Loki asks then, hopping off the table.

"Smart casual." Tony supplies, standing, "I'd say 'pick you up at 8' but I don't know where you live so…" he trails of and pulls out his phone to type in a reminder, not that he'll need it. He'd distracted by a hand running down his chest and Loki's mouth – or teeth – grazing his jaw.

"Don't," Loki says, flicking a piece of paper into existence and holding it in front of his face with two fingers, "Be late." And Loki's other hand wraps into the shirt and hold him in place while Tony takes the paper from his hand.

And then he's gone and Tony's left in his workshop with a piece of paper holding what looks suspiciously like an address on it and an intense need for it to be tomorrow already.

Like right-fucking-now.

~~~~~PAGEBREAK HERE~~~~~

Well then….

So that happened. Tell me what you think.

I have a massive headache right now, so sorry if the chapter sucks.

Leave your thoughts in a comment/review/whatevar

Stay tuned and Stay awesome


	14. Chapter 14

Date time mother fudgers! WHEEEEEEW!

Lets get some Loki feels on too! Yeah!

I honestly don't even know what happened here; sorry if I fudged it up…

LETS GO! HUZZAH!

Hopefully, enjoy…

~~~~~PRETTY PAGEBREAK~~~~~

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god

That was probably the extent of the brain power in the world's most intelligent man, which is pretty bad considering.

Tony Stark, playboy billionaire was strung out; there was this tightness in his chest and this coil in his stomach that made him want to lay down because otherwise it was just gonna crumple his whole body in on itself. He could, for once, feel his heart constricting instead of the steady hum of the arc reactor.

So yeah, that's pretty bad, and when he took a step back to analyse it he shocked himself. Because somewhere over the past months he's stopped looking at Loki like a live wire, even though there's no doubt he is, and started just looking at him. More than that, looking forward to him, if that's something he can say.

He thinks the first clue should have been when he started caring about whether or not Loki was joking about liking him or not. If not then, it should have been when he was reassuring him when he was blue. But he definitely should have noticed by the time he was asking the other out; I mean really, how does that not scream; 'I really wanna know if you like me', which in turn screams; 'Therefore I care'?

Either way that was like, half an hour ago – old news.

Current topic; what the fuck should Tony Stark wear to the date?

He thought it was a prominent topic, but JARVIS, whom was the only one he dared to seek help from, was being entirely devoid of purpose. That is; he wasn't helping. Between telling him that he didn't care and telling him to put on mismatched items, he was throwing sarcastic comments and Tony is pretty sure as hell the AI developed the attitude itself; no way would he have programmed him like that.

Next time (was it bad he was already visualising where they could go next? Probably) he was just going to put the sassy computer on mute before the bugger could even realise what was happening.

As it was he finally (finally) dressed and had somehow managed to make it down to the garage without being intercepted by any of his fellow team members, or a shield agent, or one of his employees, or – well, the list goes on.

He wanted the car to match what he was wearing (and he dressed appropriately; blue jeans, a light red (it's not pink dammit) button up shirt and a blazer) but when he sees the bright green Chevrolet Corvette Convertible he just knows; it's perfect. It's the colour of grass and polished to the state where it looks like it's never been driven. It's sure to bring attention to itself, and that's fine, because he's going to be driving so fast no-one will see them anyway.

He tells JARVIS he better tune out the cheek when he asks for the traffic reports and is glad the AI follows through.

He holds the paper in his hand so he can read the address while he drives through the city; and he refuses to use a GPS – if he gets majorly lost (which won't happen) he has JARVIS anyway.

He has a whole 20 minute drive for his nerves to skyrocket as he makes his way to the address. He sussed it out earlier and knows that they'll get to the restaurant on time, and even if they don't, the place isn't the type to book over the top of others tables. Especially when it's Tony Stark's table.

So he pulls up at the address and is surprised to find just how _fabulous_ this place looks. Because it's not like he thought Loki would live in the dregs, he just thought the god wouldn't go for anything so obvious. As it is, Loki is talking to a woman at the top of the steps; two women actually – one who looks about mid-sixties and the other who looks mid-twenties. He doesn't know what to make of it, because they're all sitting around this wrought-iron table with their feet up; the women's' on little foot stools whilst Loki's are extended high enough to rest on the railing; and drinking what appears to be coffee having a jolly good time.

He doesn't know what to make of it nor how to approach the situation, seen as none of them have noticed him, so he goes for his failsafe; make a scene.

He kneels up on the seat and beeps the horn calling out "Hey babe!" (Because maybe they don't know who he is) and giving a shit eating grin when it grabs their attention.

Loki taps the table and says something to the two before standing and grabbing his jacket before making his way down the stairs – the same way he did in Germany, not that Tony's watched the footage or anything. The leather of the jacket is hanging off his arm as he carries it and it covers the skin of his forearm that his rolled up white dress shirt shows. He makes it almost halfway down the path when the older of the women call out to him; "Loki!" Said god turns in response to his name and it gives Tony a nice view of his black denim clad ass, and yes, he firmly realises and admires the way the skinny jeans fit his figure and decides he's going to get the god wearing them as much as possible; especially if he wears those high top green converses with them, because it brings out the colour of his eyes. Yeah, his thoughts are becoming even a bit high-school teenish for him. "Your phone." The woman says before tossing the object which Loki catches deftly in one hand whilst walking backwards towards the car. He tucks it into his back pocket and holds his hand open in a parting wave before turning his attention back to where he's walking.

Which is nice, Tony thinks, because now Loki's looking at him and he gets to see the emotions dancing in his emerald eyes.

Loki just smirks at the car and doesn't even deign to open the door, opting instead to brace his hands on the seat and frame and jump over it and into his seat. Tony doesn't blame him, he did the same thing to get in too.

"Who are they?" he asks as they pull away from the curb, because he's curious.

"Friends." Loki answers, placing his jacket in the space between the seats.

"Friends?" He asks with a raised brow behind his ever-present-when-in-public sunglasses.

"They're understanding." Loki responds by way of explanation, flipping an arm over the edge of the car and using it as an arm rest. After a few moments he turns to look at Tony and gestures ahead, "Are we going?" he asks and Tony is hit by a flush of embarrassment at the knowledge he'd just been caught checking out the trickster at the stop sign instead of driving.

"You, ah, you look good." He says after a moment and he spares a glance sideways just in time to catch the smile that flickers across the others face.

"Oh Tony," Loki reaches across the gap and taps Tony on the leg. He tries not to find it distracting, "You look good too." Mocking, but that's okay, "Although I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that; countless others would."

"Well it's always nice to hear." Especially from him.

"I'm sure. We wouldn't want to starve your ego now would we?"

"Depends on if it's waiting for something good." How is this conversation coming so easily?

"Fasting before a feast? Good in theory; not in practice."

"And you would know because?" I want to know, it's stupid and means nothing in the long run, but I want to know.

"I tricked Thor into it before an eating competition he challenged me to."

Fascinating. "And did that work out for you?"

"Well I won, but it hardly worked out for me; I ate so. Much. Food. Never again, okay well, maybe again, but never again with boar."

"So I take it we won't be ordering cob roller tonight?" Loki lets out a musical laugh at the comment, leaning forward slightly in his seat and dipping his head slightly.

"No, I suppose not."

The restaurant is a private little thing; where the staff are paid enough to keep their mouths shut and the patrons are desperate enough for their own privacy that they won't bother outing anyone else. Or won't dare. Despite that it's nice, first class setting and service and food to die for; he knows; he's been here before. It's an all-round venue with areas for romantic dining or business get up yet still with a bar and, later on, a dance floor. There are exits in every corner, which, apart from the ability to leave without being hounded by paparazzi, probably also says something about the lawfulness of the business that's discussed here; the place probably hosts a mafia only night every other week, but that's never gotten out so it says a lot about the quality of the lack of digression here.

The staff don't ask questions and the patrons don't spare looks for others, but the greatest thing about being here with it's ridiculous pricing is that he knows he's safe here because he could sell out just about everyone in the place if they even looked at him funny. They all could; cause unending trouble for one another which is why he knows it's all good here.

Unfortunately; that doesn't mean people here don't mingle, because they do, and apparently the fact that Loki is here means he's on the market to every fucking partisan in the place. At least, that's how Tony feels when he's coming back from ordering some of the harder drinks only available at the bar to find Loki absolutely surrounded by people. So surrounded he might just drown if the men and women – and they're mostly men, because this place won't divulge their secrets – don't back away for just a moment.

Apparently he's not the only one who sees the appeal in the god and people are turning away from business to swarm him like he's the last scrap of food on the entire planet. Which sucks for Tony, because he can see a few people in that crowd that even he's jealous of; he, with his sleek lies and playboy front, even he can see the appeal in some of the other men and women here and can see how Loki might just lose interest.

The thought does not sit well with him and begins burning in his chest, heart and head which is, regrettably, missing a certain filter between there and his mouth.

And there's a remarkably attractive guy leering at the god currently, and Loki, looking entirely comfortable in the situation is declining, but the guys keeps pushing. This is the exact situation he's talking about where the brain to mouth filter would come in handy.

"Hey," he says, grabbing the guys wrist which was about to make contact with Loki's arm; not on his mother fucking watch, "He said 'no'." and then to the rest of the crowd that's gathered; "Go find someone else to drool over; this one's mine." Loki's eyes snap to him and he can't help but see the appreciation that runs through them. The crowd thins with a few jeers and 'find me if he bores you's, but that's fine, because Loki is his again.

And Loki is giving him a look that's entirely too filthy for the situation.

"So you dig the protective thing," he says, relaxing back in his seat, "Honestly? Didn't expect that one." Loki crosses his arms on the table and leans over them before replying.

"In my situation," he begins, "How often do you think I come across someone willing to do so?" Interesting, if not a bit heartbreaking.

"Hmn, so that translates to being a thing?" he asks still a bit dubiously and Loki leans back in his seat, one arm falling into his lap while the other is still on the table.

He taps the cloth with his finger and says; "Very much so." With a look that gives Tony no doubt.

"So I could lose you to any idiot in this place that likes to makes things his?"

"Protective, not possessive; there's a difference, and I will certainly not take being treated as an object well. I'm sure you can image how that would turn out." Bloody. It's that moment that their drinks are delivered to the table and someone comes to take their order.

"What do you want?" Tony asks, because he's trying to be the gentlemen he rarely is.

"I don't know." Loki says flippantly, not even sparing the menu a look.

"You can have anything; I'm rich, I can afford it." He says, trying to coax and opinion out of the other.

"Yes, but I simply _don't know_." He puts emphasis on his lack of knowledge and Tony understands this is because Loki actually doesn't know; the food would be different where he came from, and he doubts food endeavours are really on the gods 'to do' list when it comes to learning things about the earth.

Tony orders Veal in ash with polenta and osso-bucco vinaigrette, and Spinosini: Manilla clams, calamari and hot chillies with pasta. He doesn't know what either of them really are, so he figures they're on fairground now; and if Loki doesn't like whichever dish he receives he's fine with swapping or simply ordering again.

"…You're being very open." He says after a moment, because high-and-mighty Loki would never admit to a lack of knowledge, "I mean, you gave me your address." He stresses.

"I don't live there." Loki says with a smile, "You think I would give you my actual address? You could be playing me, and then where would I be? I'd be in a trap is where I'd be."

"But you were the one playing me, you said so yourself."

"And you just said so too; were. Were; that is the operative word here." He honestly doesn't know how to respond to that.

"Still; very open."

"I don't imagine we'd be getting anywhere if I wasn't."

"Well, alright; if we're being open, can I ask questions?"

"I don't imagine I could stop you." Loki raises his eye brows, "But I do know a fair deal more about you than you do I, so I suppose it only fair."

"Yeah, coz fair is the first thing I think of when I think god of lies."

"I'll have you know I was given that title not because I lie a great deal, but because I can discern the every falsehood." Loki points his glass at him amusedly.

"Great to know. Note; never lie to Loki; it's futile."

"Hmn," Loki hums his agreement before bringing the glass to his lips and turning his attention across the space.

"You have a phone; what's your number?" he asks quickly, grasping at the first thing that comes to mind because he wants those eyes back on him. Loki looks to him out of the corner of his eye and turns back to him slowly.

"I give you free reign on questioning and that's the first thing you think of?" He asks, but Tony notices that his hand is reaching back to pull his phone out of his pocket, "Such a prominent method of tracking," well he hadn't really thought of that, but he supposes it's true, "I can only assume a trade would be fair." He slides his phone across the table with deft fingers.

"Uh yeah," Tony replies smartly, handing his phone over. He picks Loki's up off the table and begins running his fingers over the keys to save his number as a contact. He can't resist the urge of scouring the list to see who else the god keeps in contact with. It's longer than he thought it would be, but nowhere near as long as his own. "Hey! Why do you have JARVIS as a contact?" he asks abruptly and can see Loki smiling from behind his phone.

"Sometimes I have the express need to tell Thor just how much of an idiot he is." Tony watches him for a moment but realises he'll get no other reply. He also realises Loki doesn't seem too perturbed at the fact he's scrolling through his contacts.

"Who's Stephanie?"

"A reporter." Loki's tone is dull here; he gets the feeling he doesn't like her. Good.

"Dave?" this time the answer is more enthusiastic

"Heh, a barista I enjoyed making flush." He smirks mischievously but his eyes are still concentrated on the screen in his palms, "But he was far too expectant. And an idiot. I took his number just so he didn't get what he wanted for once," now Loki's eyes flick up and he can see the roguery burning deep within them while the smirk turns sharper, "and trust me; he really wanted." He waves his hand absently and the number disappears off the screen before him.

"Uh, okay. What about June?" Loki sighs and holds his hand out for his phone back, placing Tony's on the table.

"Is this all you truly wish to speak of? She was the woman you saw earlier; the older one. The younger's name is Bethany and yes, I have her number too." Loki types a lot when he gets his phone back, fingers flying and it only takes a few moments. "The heart is a nice touch." He speaks when he apparently finds Tony in his contacts.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh you know; there's no such thing as too much knowledge."

"Did you… memorise the others' numbers?" he doesn't need to reply, the slight tweak of his lips is enough, "Great – you didn't get them from me okay?" he says, finally picking up his own phone to look through and find Loki's contact. There's no last name, but knowing the family history he understands why. "Awesome, now I just have to get you to smile."

"Why?" Loki asks, phone long forgotten and back in his pocket.

"So I can get a contact image. Don't suppose you'll give me that for free?"

"No."

"You'll make me work for it?"

"To make up for all the things you don't have to work for."

Their food arrives and Tony's happy to find Loki likes it; he's doubly happy to find he likes it too. He spends a great deal of time finding out trivial things about the other, like what coffee he likes, and then, when it turns out coffee gives him side effects, what type of side effects they are (read: way too much magic energy to be healthy). He finds out which foods Loki knows he doesn't like (celery, Turkish delight, brussel sprouts (and joke about how they are universally evil)) which foods he knows he loves (mango, chocolate, fairyfloss) and what music he's come across that he likes (basically everything bar songs like 'Friday' and the like, which he can appreciate). They talk about Dr Doom is and which of them would rather kill themselves as opposed to listening to him monologue again. They talk about how Steve is a tight ass and can be pleased and how Thor is an absolute dolt who can't grip the basics of anything.

He manages to take a photo of Loki when he's smiling at something that's been said, and the god doesn't protest and lets him set it as the contact picture.

Finally, he manages to work up the courage to ask the question that, while it will probably ruin whatever mood they've got going, is something he really wants to know; "So, with the taking over the world thing; why'd you have to do it?" Loki sighs and Tony quickly back pedals, "If you don't-"

"No, it's fine." Loki assures, "It was inevitable; I had wondered when you would ask." But he doesn't look angry, so that's nice. He's about to start speaking when desert arrives and Loki just looks at the sundae before turning his eyes to Tony. After thanking the waiter he directs his attention to his date, "Just because you can afford the ridiculous doesn't mean you must have it." Loki gestures to the + $1000 ice-cream.

"Anything for you, honey." Tony says in a sweet voice and Loki gives him a tired smile in the light of the conversation they've yet to have.

"With the... taking over the world ploy, well… your Elizabethans understood it better. I am the God of Chaos amongst other things, as I'm sure you're aware." Tony nods even though Loki's not really looking and is more busy twirling the spoon and playing with the ice-cream, "My job, as God of Chaos, is to cause Chaos. Astounding, I know, but the title and the tales make it sound a lot more… uncouth than it really is. Just," he's having a hard time searching for the right words, but Tony gives him time, "The concept your predecessors believed was that if there was disorder then chaos would ensue; if someone was usurped or unrightfully punished then trouble would befall. In these cases, they believed the chaos came to balance it back to an order; that is my duty. If something goes awry then I am to come in and shake things up until they fall back into a semblance of hat it must be for the universe to continue. So many things hinge on the seemingly unimportant details, and so without intervention things would run off track, which is where I come in. I have made regiments fall, I have had kingdoms trade their trust of one to another and had individuals betray their leaders only so the outcome matches what needs to happen. It is why I am so disliked; there is pain and so I arrive – it is easy to blame what seems out of place, especially when only my actions are seen. But it is all for the same goal; to keep the balance and order, it just so happens that I get the end that sucks." He finishes, eyes still firmly averted and waiting for the disbelief and anger; waiting to be untrusted again. He's stopped toying with the spoon and is instead wringing his hands.

"So like in Macbeth and Hamlet and Shakespeare's other stuff?"

"I-yes." He looked shocked at the response, like he was expecting something entirely different and not something so articulate.

"So, you tried to take over the world to put a balance in place?" he asks and Loki furrows his brow n such a manner that it displays his shock at the response.

"…Yes, I… My attempt was planned to fail from the beginning; you needed the motivation to draw yourselves together in the light of what's passed and what is to come. Imagine I had properly developed plans; there would have been no way your team could have responded effectively – now you can respond to any threat with the ease that comes with training, past experience and knowledge of one another."

"Oh. Okay." He says, and he does it so flippantly just to see the reaction he'll get.

It's a good one; Loki's head rips up and he locks him in a soul searching gaze and all of his defences have been cleared through sheer shock alone meaning Tony can see everything, and he can see it's no lie.

"You- why do you believe me?" his voice is softly rattled and displays the depth of how weird he finds the situation.

"Thor told me our people wouldn't understand; that sounds like just the thing we wouldn't get. Besides, I trust you." He sees the swell of relief that washes over Loki, "So I take it June and Bethany believed you too."

"Yes but- do you not think of all the deaths? Not only to your own people, but the Chitauri?"

"Well if you said it needed to happen then I believe you; I mean, it sucks yeah, but I saw how torn up you were over it. Sometimes bad things happen; sometimes you have to make the sacrifice." Loki gives this emotion draining smile, like he's found the last star in all of time and Tony wonders if that's what he looks like every time someone understands him, because it's totally disarming and he just wants to hug the bugger and keep him safe from the horrors of the world.

"And if you didn't try to take over the world?"

"It would be destroyed either by now or in the very near future. How many battles have you had since I that were a close call? Imagine if you weren't co-ordinated."

"So, you stopped the apocalypse?"

"Heh, Ragnarok? I don't bother myself with such tales." He scoffed at it actually.

"You don't believe in Ragnarok? That's a bit disconcerting, gods not believing in their own end."

"Why should I? All cultures have the same end; death and fire and nothing to stop it, but the consistency doesn't prove it true. The tale weavers of old gave the prophecies and thought: 'This is a story and all stories have to end' so they bring about the end of everything. And the figure; Loki is the chaos god, so it's only fitting he brings it about. But the world is life, and life, no matter how hard you search for it doesn't have meaning. Why should it; can you not be content with the chance to live? Why should there be an alternate which means an end must come? My life has meaning, this is why I'm a god; I must do my duty or the worlds are ripped apart, but you, you are blessed with freedom and a future of your own making – any effects of the choices you make must be dealt with by the likes of me. Your life, the life of the world, the universe; it has endless possibilities and therefore is endless in itself. I have no worries for Ragnarok, for it will not come, and if it does, it most certainly will not be in the form of finite destruction." For some reason the words resound in Tony and he realises that Loki is old; not that he looks it, but he's lived it.

"So I don't have to worry that the Mayan calendar says the worlds gonna end on the 21st of December this year? Because I don't wanna buy Christmas presents for people if they aren't even gonna get them, I mean, all the time spent thinking; it's just not worth it." Loki just gives one of his soft smiles that would have the world melting if he truly wished to rule it. "So does this mean you're all soft and cuddly inside?" he asks in a sickly sweet voice.

"Hardly. I still tried to kill Thor you know, and while it would have given order it was hardly a part of my duties."

"Okay, so no fluffy unicorns for your present then?" he teases, because he already knows the pain of being the overshadowed one and he understands it, probably not in the full capacity, but enough that he's over looked it before and he'll do it again now.

"No. If I do get one," he spins the spoon in Tony's face, "you will know pain."

"Alright then, I'll think of something better."

"I'm sure you will." The statements loaded; full of thoughts of the future, but he loves it. Loki picks up the gold leaf left over from the sundae they've decimated, holding it aloft between his middle and pointer finger. "You eat it." Tony supplies.

"Why would I eat gold?" he says it like he's above the action, which is weird because it's _eating gold_.

"I dunno, it's just something people do." He shrugs and waits for Loki's reaction. It comes in the form of a smirk and the extension of his arm towards him.

"Well then you'd better eat it Stark, for I already have a silver tongue and you can't beat that."

"But gold's better than silver."

"To you. But gold is malleable; it twists and distorts easily. Silver is much stronger and smoother."

"But your helmets gold."

"But it's not made of gold. Colour isn't everything you know." He holds the gold leaf closer, waiting for Tony to take it.

"Says the guy who just said silver was better."

"Substance, not colour." He's still holding the sheeting out, so Tony takes it; with his mouth. He makes sure to lick Loki's fingers as he does so, but the god looks amused more than anything. "Besides," he starts again once the leaf is gone from his hand, "Silvertongue sounds so much better than goldtongue." He has to agree.

It's the middle of the night when they leave; which means that only the drunks are littering the streets and that's fine because if any of them recognise who they are, chances are they'll forget by morning and won't have the foresight to take a picture.

It takes one too many drunken passes at the god by random citizens before he backs the other up as best he can and works his tongue into the others mouth. Loki ends up in a seated position which reverses their height difference and Tony finds himself looking down on the god for once. Loki doesn't seem to mind, just curves his head up to meet Tony's lips.

Surprisingly it's Loki that closes the space between them, scrabbling to get a grip on Tony's shirt and using his ankles in the back of Tony's knees to push him forward. His hold is tight and Tony doesn't think he could get away if he wanted, but still he has to know.

He has to.

"Wait, Loki," it's hard to get their lips separated long enough to get out a word, "Why are, mmph, why are you doing this?" he asks softly and it causes Loki to pause, "Thor told me that you're a smooth talker to rival all smooth talkers."

"He did, did he?" he asks, voice flatter than it's been all night.

"Yeah, so uh, if you… I don't even know – I just don't understand." He takes a small step back, "I mean if you wanted this, you'd already have it; so what are you doing?" he takes another step back, establishing a space because, don't get him wrong, he's all up for it; but not if the other doesn't want it. He won't be that person. A panicked look crosses Loki's face in that moment and the god reaches out to stop him moving further away.

"No don't" he tries to stop his retreat and assure him at the same time. He looks like he's fighting with himself, with what to say, so Tony takes the initiative.

"What is it then?" he puts on his best pout, which he knows isn't great, but coupled with genuine confusion it does the trick and Loki just starts blurting out his words.

"Smooth talk can only get you so far; you know this, but I…" he loses himself for a moment, mouth working as he tries to figure out whatever is moving through his head. Their faces are close, incredibly so and Tony's only option is to look into his eyes. Soon the torrent of words start, and he can't stop it, "You listened to me. You listen to me; I have walls surrounding me miles high but you take one look and plough them down, faster than I can rebuild and when you see what's there you don't run, you don't scream or fight or yell or try to kill me. I hate it, I hate everything that you see and I fight it – I fight everything you say; I don't want to like it but you know I like it. And you say things, anything, the first thing that comes to your mind and despite how hard I try it gets to me. I thought – I thought I was untouchable. I thought no-one would ever be able to get through again, because I hid myself in the memory of sheer pain, but you just barge right in and you don't even know it, and it's the stupidest thing, but I _want_ you to know it. And you fight for me; I've only ever been seen as the enemy, but you fight for me. That's ridiculous, to be fought for – all of them other boys can walk away; they aren't even in the game. I just – you have this swag and attitude and you don't listen to my half formed protests. I just, I want to hear you say _my_ name. I-" he's run out of things to say, his mind is just reforming the same things over and over again and he feels so dumb, because this is Tony Stark, playboy billionaire he's pouring his words out to and he has this useless semi-hope that Tony wont hate him for it.

"So you like me because I listened to you?" Tony asks through the spinning haze that is his head right now. Loki's saying all these things and he's right; he didn't even know he did even a fraction of those things and he's caught between believing the words and being the giddiest he's been in a long time or taking it as a play and wanting to believe it anyway. Because damn it to hell if this isn't the closest he's been to _feeling_ since Pepper.

"No, I have June for that," he reassesses his statement, "I like you because you're arrogant and selfish and intelligent and beautiful and snarky and imploring and enthusiastic and stupid and brave and… damn it to hell Tony." The gods forehead falls forward to rest on his and the lids to those green eyes fall shut. He only gets a moment to reflect on the fact that Loki said his first name before the trickster's speaking again, "Look what you did to me, you idiot," he gets slapped in the chest softly which matches the words used; basically a flow of breath.

"… so you like me?" he can feel his lips curving up, but Loki, with his eyes still closed won't notice, because Tony kept his voice as free of inflexion as he could.

He, however, can feel the way Loki's brows draw together and it looks as though the answer is being physically ripped from him; "yes."

"Well then I hope you meant it about those other guys not even playing; because I don't share." Loki's eyes snap open with surprising clarity at the sentence, searching and scouring him as they always do; taking in the information there, looking for the hints of falsehood he can detect so easily. He doesn't care and pushes his lips to the gods instead of waiting for him to finish his in depth assessment.

Loki drinks from his lips like nothing else, legs tugging him closer and arms racing over his arms, hair, neck, face, stomach. Tony accepts it easily; one hand coming to rest in raven hair while the other takes a firm grip of his hip. It's only when Loki's hands slip inside his shirt leaving blazing trails of goose bumps that he gives pause and laughs; "Loki, we're still in public." He mutters against his lips, moving his hands to grab at the ones that won't stop their relentless search. Somehow, Loki manages to get a leg between his and slides it up his thigh and he knows exactly where it's headed, so he drops one of Loki's arms to intercept it instead. And so Loki's arm picks up the search again; dammit he does not have enough limbs to stop this deviant. "Seriously Loki, this is going over the PDA acceptability line and venturing into public indecency." He tries to step back but Loki just follows, standing and using his new height to his advantage, crowding over Tony, lips not leaving his mouth or skin. "Loki we, hnng," that high pitched whine is definitely on his list of 'most embarrassing things ever' and it only serves to spur Loki on, making it harder for him to form coherent sentences, let alone deny the advances. "We need to get, unh, off the street."

For a terrible, horrid moment he can't feel Loki anymore, his touch or his breath or anything, but it's back in the next and he opens his eyes to see garden and stone and one very memorable wrought-iron table.

One of Loki's hands move back behind him to twist the door knob and then Tony is following as Loki walks backwards into the house, still not ceasing his affections.

"I thought you said you didn't live here." Tony says, a little weirded out by the change in scenery; the place is huge.

"It is not my _only_ place of residence." The god amends, pulling him to the stairs and grabbing his hand to lead him up them, giving Tony space to breathe and think.

"Are you sure we should-" Tony starts, still marvelling at the sheer size of the place as they pass door after door.

"They are the ones who invited me to stay; they know what they were getting into." Loki is still leading him with determination.

"But should we really-"

"The walls are soundproof." He says with a quirk of his lips as he finally pushes open one of the furthermost and highest doors.

"Are you-"

"I'm sure." Any further concerns for the patrons of the household are demolished as Loki pounces on him; touching him like sin itself had possessed his bones.

~~~~~PRETTY PAGEBREAK~~~~~

So, I have no excuses lol.

Loki is the way he is because he needs the loves ^x^

Tell me what you think in a comment/review/whatevar

Stay tuned and stay awesome


	15. Chapter 15

People wanted smut, but I've never written it, so I decided against it… maybe some other time… sorry to disappoint, but I'm not sure I'd be good at it.

ANYWAYS; on with the story, I hope you can enjoy it; it might move a bit fast but hey – tough titties.

And here we go;

~~~~~OBVIOUS PAGEBREAK~~~~~

Things were going well, Tony thought. It had been three weeks since their first date, and he means first because they've been on a lot, and every one he tried to best the last.

Loki kept being his normal mischievous self and Tony kept inventing; nothing to suggest anything else was happening between them.

Clint kept hanging out with Loki, which was weird; the fact that they were hanging out (not to mention that Clint should hate him for the mind-control thing) but it was fine, because Tony could easily work jealous sex in.

So things were good; great even.

And then the tabloids exploded with what they must have been accumulating over the past couple of weeks; images of him and a so called 'mystery date'.

But it was fine; right?

Of course it was. All of the images comprised of Tony and a partial shot of another person, and by a partial shot he means maybe a hand or a foot. In one there was even an elbow.

So there was no risk of being found out – not that he's sure anymore who would even care. The avengers, despite Loki's past transgressions are at least slightly welcoming. In a sense.

Clearly Clint and Loki got along. Therefore Natasha and Loki get along (not to mention the fact that apparently she'd been present when the hidden conversation was transmitted to Clint). Thor clearly doesn't care; they're brothers. Bruce doesn't really even have an opinion on it; he just doesn't care – he's mellow all over.

Steve… well. He's still Steve, which means he's still pro-justice and 'Loki is the bad guy', but whatever.

Either way, he was being constantly badgered throughout the household as to who exactly he was dating, but he never said a word; because hanging out with Loki had obviously taught him a few things. The team members were content to tease him on what he has and what he won't tell them; more questioning him to be annoying than out of an actual desire to know.

Except Clint – he keeps giving Tony these looks that make Tony think he might just know what's going on.

The one thing he didn't count on was Pepper.

More specifically, Pepper bursting into his lab and being just pure crazy.

He really should have expected it.

But he didn't.

"Anthony Stark!" Pepper yelled, storming out of the elevator and across the floor.

"Pepper?" he asked, turning in his chair and looking up; he really hadn't seen much of her since she took his heart and ground it into the floor all those months ago, aside from the sporadic company meetings or signings.

"What is this?" she held a magazine up in her hand, the front cover a full sized image of him holding the hand of a person obscured by a restaurant door.

"A magazine?" he offered, shrugging.

"Don't even try it! I mean are you kidding me? A few months and you're letting yourself be shot with some rebound on the streets?"

"Hey, what? They're not 'some rebound'!" he protested.

"Tony Stark does not do _dates_," she snarled, "Don't tell me this isn't a pathetic tryst; we split up and a few months later you've moved on? Or are you really that shallow?"

"Hey! You're the one that dumped me! Not the other way around!" he said standing fully.

"And you have the audacity to take her where we went!" she ignored him, powering on, "Taking her to the restaurant, _our restaurant_!" she pointed furiously at the photo.

"Pepper, are you serious!" he shouted, stepping forward and snatching the magazine out of her hand before tossing it to the ground, "You dumped me because you thought you could find someone with more 'game' and upgrade, and now you come back here out of what? Jealously?"

"Please," she scoffed, "This isn't even jealousy; she's got nothing on me." He didn't bother to correct her, he was too angered that she was even speaking this way.

"ARE YOU KIDDING!" he yelled at full force, "Did you expect me to just wait here for you?" he continued to shout with power.

"Yeah, I did, because I thought at least you wouldn't just go at the first thing that came your way; you're acting like a fool!"

"Get. Out." He ground out through his teeth, nostrils flaring as he walked to the window, trying to get fresh air.

"No. You can't honestly be with this person; I know you love me, I-"

"What? You what? You want me back?"

"Yes; I want you back, I-"

"Well you shouldn't have left! You didn't want the 'emotional baggage' remember? Couldn't deal with my self-destructive tendencies? Any of this ring a bell?" Somehow the conversation forwent any emotion and drew straight towards anger; no venting, just shouting.

"Look at what you're doing! You're just picking up the next best thing! You clearly didn't think this through; if what I've heard is true you'll be coming back."

"To you? No, I won't. I will never come back to you, and what do you mean what you've heard? All you know is that this person has a _hand_! There is no info out about this!" He thrusted his hand haphazardly at the magazine on the floor.

"I know that she'll never compare to me; so why don't you just ditch her and come back?"

"…You have got to be fucking kidding me right now." He said as calmly as possible; what even was this conversation? This was nothing like the Pepper he thought he knew.

"I'm not kidding and you know it. You know we were better together than you and any other woman could be; let's just give us another try." Her voice was softer then too.

"You dumped me because you found out I would give you whatever you wanted without you having to be in my bed, and now you want to date again?"

"That's not true." She spoke in measured tones, picking up the magazine and tearing off the front page, letting the rest flop to the floor again, "You know we were good together."

"You are unbelievable." He muttered in disbelief.

"You idiot!" she called, scrunching up the sheet in a ball and preparing to throw it, "I can't believe you'd lower yourself by dating a piece of _trash_!" she let her arm arc and readied herself to let the paper hit her boss in the face. Only it didn't transpire, the motion being stopped by a hand on her forearm. She twisted her head to look at the room's new occupant, "Loki?" her voice quivered in fear.

"I'd refrain from throwing things, lest Mr Stark find a reason to act in self-defence." He warned, leaning incredibly closely over her shoulder, moving her arm lower with his strength before pushing just so on the muscle and forcing her to drop the paper. Once the object was in his hand he took a step away, grinning at her with malice; she was just talking about him after all.

"Tony! Get rid of him!" she ordered frightened, "He's a criminal, arrest him!"

"Nah, he's fine," Tony waved Loki off, enjoying the way Pepper squirmed under the gods malicious smile, "He won't do anything." He spoke as Loki started pacing around the room in a slow circle, making him feel better through his mere presence.

"I can see how you're life choices are working out for you; letting a supervillain into you're lab, no wonder you're dating that slug."

"Hey, woah. That's not very nice." He put his hands up but saw the grin Loki had shining in his eyes before the god stepped out of view behind him. He cast his full attention on Pepper; if he remember rightly (which he did) Loki liked games, and this one was already in motion.

"What would you have me call her then? A leech?" she swayed the direction of the conversation back to Tony's date.

"Now that's just plain inaccurate, unless you count the other night in which case they sucked plenty from me." Pepper's face looked horrified for a split second before returning to rage

"You're disgusting!"

"And yet you still want me?"

"I want you to be happy; and you'll be happy with me. Not her."

"No I'm good with them; they're plenty fine and make me happier than you."

"Oh really? Name one thing that they're better for than me." She challenged and Tony just stood silent for a few moments, "There, see; you've got nothing."

"No, I was just trying to figure out which point I should begin with; y'know, last week I found out they're a damn good cook."

"Better than me?"

"It's like the food's come from the gods." He smirked at her, "Seriously Pepper, this isn't going to work out; this isn't how you talk to your boss or your friend. You should leave before you do something you regr-"

"You want me to stand by while you run off with her! Who is she even, apart from the first whore you found on the corner?"

"I'm not kidding Pepper; you're being ridiculous. Don't say that; they're a damn sight more respectful than you are right now. Listen to what you're saying, you're ju-"

"WHO IS SHE?" she screeched over the top. He saw Loki behind her, eyeing him with a hungry look; oh right, the protective thing.

"It's none of your business."

"Tell. Me. Right. NOW!"

"Give you a hint; starts with 'L'."

"What; Lying Wench?"

"Okay, get out." He pointed to the elevator in emphasis.

"You can't jus-"

"If you don't get out right now, I swear, I will fire you and you can go live in a dumpster."

"Tony, I…"

"I believe Mr Stark has spoken, Miss Potts." Loki spoke, meandering so he was in front of her, but to the right a little so that she could still see Tony. She glared defiantly at the both of them; although the glare for Tony was mostly comprised of anger while Loki's was mostly constructed with a fear and hatred.

"I hope she's worth it." She spat after a moment.

"Oh, he is." He replied as she stepped into the elevator. Pepper had just enough time to register the statement and gape as Loki jumped Tony before the doors closed. Her emotions were all over the place as the electronics took her down to the bottom floor; she was angry, but filled with jealousy and betrayal and hate. All of her emotions contradicted and then, on top of that, was pure, unadulterated confusion as to what she had just witnessed.

While she was angry she was happy that she had (maybe) let go of Tony after what she had just seen, and even though she knew it was her own fault, she couldn't help feeling like her heart had been crushed.

Meanwhile, in the penthouse…

As soon as the words left Tony's mouth he found his lips covered by another's. Ah Loki and his good old protective kink. A tongue invaded his mouth as hands worked their way over his body and he had barely enough time to grab a hold of the other's shirt fabric before he was being pushed backwards and into the first surface they made contact with.

The window.

Somehow, Tony couldn't find it in his heart to be fearful of the current situation. Not that it mattered; he hadn't really seen this side of Loki yet, I mean sure, he knew of it, and he'd experienced many a thing since their date weeks ago; but not this. Not this self-proclaimed kink, at least, not in this force.

Loki's hands tore at the clothing that separated them; ripping Tony's shirt in half down the centre before he expertly shrugged out of his own clothing with a practiced ease. Tony didn't have to do more than keep his hands below the shirt line (easy) and keep his mouth busy (double easy). As soon as the shirts were gone Loki moved on to the pants, not caring where his hands grazed as he pushed Tony's jeans down and kicked his own off.

"Woah, slow down babe." Tony spoke, his hands roaming the body in front of him as Loki continued to barrel forward and assaulted his neck.

"I will not," the god growled, using one hand to pin Tony's hip to the window and the other hand to tease his member, "I'm going to fuck you so hard the only reason you'll be able to walk is my magic." Loki insisted with a voice deeper than ever and sexy as hell, his hand twisting just so and pushing their bodies further into the glass while the other hand worked its way between his cheeks.

Tony couldn't even think up a reason why being taken against the window was a bad idea; it's not as if the people could see them from the street anyway.

And Loki was right; of course, and when they finally decided to collect themselves from the floor and make it up to the penthouse Loki ended up carrying him to the bed, tossing him down and giving a quick 'I'll fix you tomorrow' before he too collapsed to the bed and they drifted quickly into a slumber that neither had experienced for the longest time.

Upon waking JARVIS greeted him like any other morning; relaying information pertaining to weather, stocks and all other things he wanted to be informed of in the morning, such as emails and messages and whatnot.

He slipped out of bed to make his way to the shower, only to be halted by an impromptu meeting between the carpet and his face.

"Loki," he called, rolling over onto his back and facing the ceiling. He heard sheets shuffling and a questioning 'Tony?' before Loki's head popped over the side of the bed and the god looked down to him. God he loved it when Loki called him Tony, it only ever seemed to happen when the trickster wasn't paying too much attention to what he was saying. He wished he said it more.

"Stark, what are you doing on the floor?"

"Hey, what happened to 'Tony'?"

"Tony would be in bed; Stark is on the floor." The god teased flopping down and letting his arms and head rest off the bed and in the air whilst the rest of his body remained on the cushioning surface.

"Yeah well Tony was going to the bathroom when his legs gave out and his face decided it needed a closer look at the carpet." He replied, not moving from his splayed position on the floor yet feeling comfortable, "Now come fix me up; you said you would."

"But that requires getting out of bed." Loki fought using one arm to pull the duvet further around him while the other arm still hung off the bed. Unfortunately (for Loki) in Tony's reach.

"Too bad" he cried as he tugged at the gods arm hard enough to send him careening to the floor and leaving him flattened underneath the god's body. In hindsight; not the best plan. Loki just laid boneless where he was left, tugging the duvet he'd brought with him around his form more, "Now fix me."

"Nah," Loki said, moving so that Tony's stomach could act as a pillow, "More sleep."

"If you don't move I'm going to pee on you." He could feel the grimace on Loki's face before he saw it, but either way it was unfairly attractive.

"Fine fine." Loki pulled himself into a sitting position and let his magic flow from his hands, easing the overworked muscles in his lovers legs so that they may be fully functional again.

When Tony came back Loki hadn't moved far; propping himself against the side of the bed and looking out of the floor to ceiling windows that lined the bedroom wall tucked inside a bundle of blanket. He flopped down next to the god and shuddered slightly at the cool floor; the weather had been crazy lately; boiling one day and then freezing the next, but that's spring for you. In a surprising show of fondness Loki let half the blanket wrap around Tony's shoulders and so the two sat there in the duvet cacoon overlooking the city.

"Anything interesting in the news?" Tony asked his AI and moving as close as he could to the god while he could.

"Very much so, Sir. Would you like to see?"

"If you please," he replied sarcastically; his AI knew he'd want to see. The glass in front of them was quickly overshadowed by news coverage from who knows when.

"In an outburst of what can only be described as a raging jealousy Pepper Potts," now the report had Tony's full attention, "CEO of Stark industries has reported that the woman Tony Stark has been seen dating is not, in fact, a woman but a man, and not only that but acclaimed Super villain Loki. Whether there is any truth to this we don't know and Loki has been surprisingly silent on the ordeal. The accused relations, however, brings us back to a conversation with the deity from weeks ago…" they proceeded to show the interview in which Loki had said it was possible for him to be in a relationship with one of the avengers and recapping whilst Loki magicked his phone out of thin air and saw his 157 missed calls and 76 unread texts.

"Well, it seems your employee cannot keep her mouth closed." Loki said offhandedly as he one-handedly works through the messages, the other hand holding the sheet around his form.

"I'm Sor-" Tony starts to apologise but is cut off by a gentle and quick press of lips.

"It's fine," the god says, turning back to the report to see what else will be said.

"We went to the streets to see New York's opinion." The reported said and the screen cut to the image of a man on ground level interviewing people, "What do you think about the rumours of Tony Stark dating Loki?"

"We don't tend to involve ourselves in other's personal lives." A woman and man in their late 30's say with the air of someone who'd been judged for their relationship.

"Oh My God! Really! That's asdfghjkl!" A group of younger girls in their early 20's fell apart in giggles.

"It would be great for society" said a gay rights activist.

"It's unnatural" said the homophobe.

"Loki's the bad guy though; how could Tony do that? Is he bad too?" a woman questioned

"Maybe Loki's good now" he companion argued

"Maybe they're just good for each other" another said

"Tony's a playboy," a man began, "If he actually is screwing around with Loki I'd hate to see the fallout"

"I think what matters is why Loki's not in jail"

"Frostiron!"

"They should both be detained"

"Nothing good can come of this"

"I LOV-"

"Cut it off JARVIS," Tony ordered, not wanting to watch anymore, "I really am sorry," he turned to Loki, "I didn't think she'd do that. I'm sorry."

"I said 'it's fine'," Loki rolled his eyes half-heartedly, "It's only going to affect people's thoughts on you; I'm the bad guy remember? Your reputation's the one at risk." He grabbed Tony's hand in what felt like a risky show of affection.

"You really don't care?" Tony asked, heart swelling at the gentle contact.

"You know I don't; you mushed me up, remember, so of course I don't care. But it's your choice on how you wish to deal with," he gestured vaguely to the still image on the screen, "that."

"…Give me a little time to think something up."

"All the time in the world."

"You got something in mind?"

"I've always got something in mind." He smirked before giving him another quick kiss, "I suppose you won't be expecting any guests while you think." He gave a quick nod, "Well then, guess I'm off to work." He gave a small smile before disappearing and leaving a small vacuum of space behind which immediately collapsed on itself with a small noise.

Tony let his head drop back against the bed. Loki had just left this in his hands, left it for him to decide whether to deny the accusations or accept them. Three weeks was all the solitude they were given, and now they were outed. They could continue to live like this in silence; rejecting the claims, or they could accept them. If he denied it he ran the risk of offending Loki, but if he accepted he ran the risk of having them both incarcerated.

He tried to keep this train of thought as a dragon flew past his window; it's huge body acting as a carrier to his personal god of mischief causing havoc in a bid for distracting things enough to buy him some time to think.

"JARVIS," he prompted, and then when he received no response; "JARVIS?" he leant over to turn the lamp on, testing out his theory. It didn't work. An electrical malfunction? He supposed that stopped him from being able to put on his suit to stop whatever was going on. Good enough.

Three days later found the battle finished with Loki's dragon floating off in a green mist after doing nothing more than flying around the city and using several buildings as a perch. The creature had, of course, been just one large illusion and so every time they attacked their projectiles flew through the dragon and hit whatever was on the other side, resulting in the avengers doing more damage than Loki and the dragon. It really only ended because Tony texted Loki and said he'd figured it out.

The reporters swooped onto the avengers immediately and after the questions of the battle and ironman's absence were explained they got onto the more important question; "What do they think of Tony dating Loki?"

"If it's true, then; good for them." Clint called to one camera, "Loki's a mischief maker; look at what he just did. If anyone can tie either of them down it's each other."

"If it means one less bad guy then who am I to complain?" Natasha replied.

"I really don't mind." Bruce said, "It's not my place."

"My brother and my team mate!" Thor cried, "Their union would make me very happy!" he beamed to the reporters.

"Tony would never do something like that; Loki is the bad guy – I'm sure Tony has at least enough sense to see that." Steve responded tersely before turning away and prying the front door to the Avenger's tower open; it didn't work without the electricity to let it slide.

Clint's phone rang in his pocket and he flicked it open as he followed the team inside. It was Tony.

"Hey man, yeah…no yeah…U-huh… yep…sure…okay, yeah man, see ya." He hung up the device, "Tony's trying to get the electricity back on, he said it should be done soon but in the meantime we have to take the stairs." He pointed to the door and looked at it in disdain. He didn't really wanna climb all those steps.

After making it up the 90 something floors they all found their showers and fell into bed, willing to face the world at a later date; sleep calling them.

~~~~~OBVIOUS PAGEBREAK~~~~~

I hope you guys enjoyed, if not, sorry…

This is kinda rushed but whatever, idc

Next chapter Tony's decision; will he deny or confirm (hint; It's gonna be a show!)

Leave your thoughts in a comment/review/whatevar

Stay tuned and stay awesome


	16. Chapter 16

Okay  
So  
I know that these chapter updates are really annoying and whatnot, but I've got it covered, I will remove it, I just need to get you a message, if anyone bothers reading this that is.  
So I've had a pretty fully packed time recently; I had my hsc, got really sick and went to hospital, got out of hospital and went overseas, came back only for my sister to fall incredibly ill, and then started university. On top of that, I had to get a new laptop and all of my files are gone, so I'll have to re-write everything I had before.

I know this isn't an excuse, I could have tried to use other computers and whatnot, but living with my family I don't think they'd really appreciate my writing.  
I went onto my account today because it's the first I've really had the opportunity.

I read the comments people have left on my stories.

All of them.  
From beginning to end.

And I remembered how much I enjoyed hearing your feedback, how much I enjoyed the fact that I had managed to entertain you for even a moment.

Honestly I didn't think anyone would mind if my stories faded away, I mean I liked writing for you and I was upset that I had to stop, but I didn't think anyone would care about my stories enough for it to have an impact.

But, your comments proved me wrong, apparently some of you did miss my writing, and that is amazing to me.

The point is:

I will be writing again, I've got my laptop and my fingers and my brain; I CAN DO THIS.

HOWEVER

I am short on time, I'm doing a fulltime course at university and so I have little time to write, and honestly, writing out chapters the length I do weekly takes up substantial amounts of time.

So  
I will finish all my stories  
But I can't finish them at the same time, I don't have enough time

I'll start by finishing _GoM: the trickster_, I'll have to re-write the ending but it's the shortest of the stories.

After that there's _Unprecedented_ and _Duty vs Desire_, and I really don't know which one to finish first. They both had a pretty long way still to go honestly, _Unprecedented_ is definitely shorter, but there is still much to occur.

I am sorry that I've not been writing for you for so long, but I'm going to finish these.

Leave a vote as t which story I should finish first in a comment/review/whatever

Stay tuned and stay awesome


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